Conflicts: Tension Between Characters By T. Ray

Lily’s housekeeper Rosaline was a big part in Lily’s growth throughout the her adolescent years. When T. Ray found Lily outside in the garden with her shirt unbuttoned he made her kneel in a pile of Martha White Grits, when she did this her knees got incredibly welted and bruised. Once Rosaleen had seen what he had done she immediately brought it to Lily’s attention how bad she was being treated by T. Ray, “‘Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you,’” she said (Kidd 25). If not for Rosaline, she probably would have never even been capable of leaving her home at the peach farm in the first place and in turn she probably would have never found the Boatwright sisters in Tiburon, South Carolina (37). If this would not have happened Lily would have been stuck in her miserable life with T. Ray, forever having to kneel in the sharp Martha White Grits, having constantly wilted knees, and being neglected from the love all people need and deserve to feel throughout their

Animosity for someone can be held for a long time, and is occasionally taken out on others. June Boatwright held a grudge against Lily’s mom because August, June’s sister, had worked for her family. Given the time, this is more upsetting for June. When Lily arrives, June is fairly hostile towards Lily, but later accepts her while wrestling in sprinklers. Lily shows her happiness about the situation when she thinks, “I wasn’t exactly sure of everything we were laughing about---I was just glad we were doing it together” (Kidd 169). This event occurring helps both Lily and June understand their issues adding to the faults in their relationship. Maturation takes time, no matter what age one may be. Lily and June begin understanding that both have been immature, but were able to accept it after they set their differences aside. Later in the novel, Lily’s father, T. Ray comes to the Boatwrights’ house to take Lily home. As Lily and T. Ray argue, Lily is reminded why she left home. In the beginning of this event, T. Ray is still determined to take her home, shown when he says, “You think I’m gonna walk out of her and leave you? I don’t even know these damn people” (Kidd 296). T. Ray is still in denial about Lily’s current situation, and the fact that she would rather stay with these women than go home with him. Although this should not be a surprise to him, he is still shocked and refuses to give up. That is, until he watches the

Ray, her father, change due to his action. “Dear T. Ray, Don’t bother looking for me. Lily. P.S. People who tell lies like you should rot in hell.” T. Ray tells Lily that her mother left her when she was a couple of years old.

Lily’s isolation time in T-Ray’s house and the death of her mother causes her to yearn for a motherly figure. The fact that T-Ray meanness overwhelms his fatherly figure and the fact that Lily killed Deborah causes Lily to look for someone or something that can provide her the same affection as a motherly figure. Thus, every time T-Ray becomes mean to Lily, Lily uses her mother’s items as a replacement for a motherly figure. She says, “I felt the wooden picture of black Mary underneath my waistband. I felt the waxed paper with my mother’s picture inside and her gloves stuck to my belly, and it seemed all of a sudden like my mother was there, up against my body, like she was bits and pieces of insulation molded against my skin, helping me absorb all his meanness” (24). Lily’s action to use Deborah’s items as a fictional motherly figure shows that she still feels the guilt over what she did to Deborah. Consequently, Lily is chained to her past.

In the passage Lily tries to remind T-Ray that it is her birthday and that she would enjoy and gift that all the other girls have at school. He does not care about the fact that it is her birthday or that Lily wants to try to fit in and have friends at school. But when she retrieves the items her mother left behind her demeanor changes, things become positive, joyful even.

Although he abused Lily, he had impacted Lily’s life by telling her what really happened the day her mother died so Lily would really understand. He had abused Lily and she needed to learn the truth about her mother so she chose to run away. Lily said before she ran away, “In a matter of seconds I knew exactly what had to do-leave. I had to get away from T. Ray, who was probably on his way back this minute to do Lord-knows-what to me…” (Kidd 41).

Lily finds out that August has known who her mother was, and that Lily was her daughter. Lily was very hurt by this but August knew she was not “ready to know about her. [August] didn’t want to risk [Lily] running away again. [August] wanted [Lily] to have a chance to get [herself] on solid ground”(236). When August gives Lily time and space to come to terms with her mother leaving her with T-Ray, she moves on in a way. She understands that her mom must have had a reason for leaving her. Lily also gets closure when August tells her the full story of her mother being at the Boatwright Household. August explains to Lily that she left T-Ray and Lily because she was depressed, and just not herself. August tells Lily “after she’d been here three months and was feeling a little better, [Deborah] started talking about how much she missed you. Finally she went back to Sylvan to get you”(254). Knowing that her mom was coming back to get her, allowed for Lily to get rid of some of the hate that she had for her mom. Now Lily knew that her Mom did love her, and did not want to leave her alone with T-Ray. Although Lily gets rid of some of the hate for her mom, she still had some of it. She still hates her for not bringing her along with her to the Boatwright’s in the first place, and for leaving her with T-Ray for those couple of months. August explains to Lily that her mom had made a mistake

Lily overhears a conversation between June Boatwright and August, where June explains that the color of her skin matters and that she does not belong in the Boatwright house “but she’s white, August” (5, 87). Lily “[wants] to make [August] love [her] so [she could stay in the pink house] forever” but she knows that she will never truly “belong”, because she is not the same as theirs. Another example of this is during the weekly meeting of the Daughter of Mary, each member and sister would go up to the Statue of Mary and touch her heart. Lily took part in this ritual and as it was her turn to go touch Mary’s heart, June turned off the music and lily again realized “I am not one of [them]” (6, 111). Lily desires to be a part of their family, but she struggles with the feeling of being an outsider. At the end of the novel, lily is faced with a demand from her father T.Ray to come “home”, lily then realizes that physical home is not “home”, she belongs in the Boatwright house “ Lily can have a home here for as long as she wants” (14,

Ray’s personality that I put on the hat. Three adjectives include: broken, unloving, and controlling. T. Ray feels broken on the inside after Deborah’s disappearance and later death. He hides it extremely well by acting tough and cold on the exterior, but in reality, he feels depressed and broken on the inside. Readers figure out that he feels this way when he tells Lily, “You look like her” (296). He also is a particularly unloving father towards Lily. Lily shares with the reader that “he had already given me his answer, and it caused a kind of sorrow to rise in me…” (22). His daughter deserves a birthday present, and he ignores it which makes Lily feel unloved and disappointed. Lastly, he also is a controlling father. Lily went to sort through her mother’s things during the night, and he makes an extraordinarily wrong accusation that Lily was out with a boy. This shows that he doesn't want Lily to come in contact with boys in that way, which makes him a very controlling

Lily shot her mother when she was four years old. Her abusive father, T. Ray, says it is all her fault, even though it was she was still only four. He blames her for a lot of things and even tells her that her mother never loved her and that is why she left.

In the beginning of the story, Lily was a runaway who firmly believed that she was unlovable, but after many precarious events led her and Rosaleen to the Boatwright Sisters, she was taken by August Boatwright without hesitation. August fed the girl, washed her, kept a roof atop her head, and most importantly, treated the Lily as if she was the elderly woman’s own. And when Lily eventually wanted to know about her mother, August obliged and revealed everything. Following the revelation, Lily broke down and “[August] was like a sponge, absorbing what [Lily] couldn’t hold anymore” (238). Up to this point in the story, Lily has been physically and mentally abused by T. Ray. Also, she felt unlovable, maybe even unfit for love. But with August’s presence and comfort, she was able to learn that she was able to be loved. In that regard, August was being what a mother should be: loving and supportive

When Lily finally decides to run away from T.Ray to Tiburon with Rosaleen, the housemaid, in the movie this act is shown more as her wanting to get away from him and not so much as her being curious about what really is in Tiburon, South Carolina. Also, while at the Boatwrights house Lily did not act in a curious manner, but was mostly doing what she could to blend in so she was accepted, and not kicked out. When T.Ray tells Lily that her mother left her as a child, Lily refuses to believe so. She knows that it was just another punishment he uses to torment her, and only seeks to find the real truth at the very end of the movie. When he tries to take her away from the Boatwrights, she asks him before he leaves, “Did you lie about my mother leaving me.” The quality of Lily’s curiosity is lost in the movie. Lily’s life is represented more as a drama than her being curious and seeking answers about her mother, and the black Madonna. Because the movie lacks the value of curiosity it takes away from what the true story

At the beginning of the book, Lily is holding on to unhealthy relationships, living a miserable life, yet too scared to let go. T-Ray, Lily’s father has never been there for Lily. She is constantly scared of him and continuously uncomfortable in her own home.

Ever since the death of Lily’s mother, Deborah, T. Ray has made it physically and mentally difficult for Lily to cope and move forward in life. According to the novel, he tells Lily, “The truth is, your sorry mother ran off and left you. The day she died, she’d come back for her things, that’s all. You can hate me all you want, but she’s the one who left you.” (Kidd 39) This indeed shows T. Ray’s inability to control his anger but also shows his cruel nature towards his own kin. Throughout the entire novel, T. Ray has led Lily to believe that Deborah intentionally left, even

She also begins to understand emotion better, and think about it. “‘What…. do you love, Lily?’ No one had ever asked me this before. What did I love?” (Kidd 139). Under T. Ray’s care, Lily was still developing her sense of self and beginning to feel deeper, but T. Ray didn’t really allow her to feel or be who she was. When Lily is finally freed from T. Ray’s stifling attitude, she has the freedom to explore being a teenaged girl, and to figure out who she it with Rosaleen, August, May, June and Zach. In the story, Lily is finding out who she is, and how she feels. This new awareness of emotion is imperative to that search. Lily is becoming more aware of her emotions in this