Discrimination In The Secret Life Of Bees

‘The Secret Life of Bees’ includes loveable characters that each have their own unique personalities. In Erin Collazo Miller’s book review, he states that “’The Secret Life of Bees’ has loveable, well written characters.” Lily is determined to find out about her mother; even if it means going to Tiburon, South Carolina. In ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ it says, “I always promised myself one day, when I was grown up enough, I would take the bus over there. I wanted to go everyplace she had ever been.” (pg.15) Rosaleen is a strong and brave woman who doesn’t give up on what she wants. In the ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ it says, “Coming alongside the men, Rosaleen lifted her snuff jug, which was filled with black spit, and calmly poured across the tops of the men’s shoes…” (pg.32) Rosaleen is on her way to vote when these men give her a hard time. She however, doesn’t let them get in her way. She is brave to do something like that.

Rosaleen is going into town to sign her name to be able to vote. Lily begs to go with her into town and she decides to take her into town. They tell T-Ray it is to get her fitted for a bra. On the way to town, they run into trouble. The printed version of The Secret Life of Bees displays the first bout of trouble is from taking shelter and to rest in an all-white church. They are caught by the preacher and told to leave due to Rosaleen not being allowed inside the church. Later, Rosaleen is confronted about taking the paper fans from the church. The movie version displays Rosaleen taking her spit can and writing her name across the feet of a white man. This causes Rosaleen to be beaten by a group of men. The police take her to jail and then to the hospital due to her injuries. Lily conducts a plan to break Rosaleen from the hospital and they run away

"New beekeepers are told that the way to find the elusive queen is by first locating her circle of attendants." (57) This quote is at the beginning of chapter three and not only foreshadows many things to come, but within the quote, two of the novel’s main metaphors are mentioned, bees and the queen, which is referring to society and a mother figure. Although this quote is largely interpreted as a metaphor for Lily looking for a new queen or mother figure, and perhaps August being that mother, I believe that it has another meaning as well. I believe that the Black Madonna also serves as a “queen” and mother figure to all the women in “The Secret Life of Bees.”

From the start of young Lily’s life, Rosaleen was always there to take care of Lily. And at the end of the book, Rosaleen is there right by Lily’s side, as one of her dear mother figures. Throughout the book, their relationship —like all others— changes and fluctuates often. At one point, the two are simply furious with each other. At another, Rosaleen is there to comfort Lily as she cries. Thanks to the writing techniques of Sue Monk Kidd (author of The Secret Life of Bees), the relationship between these two is clearly illustrated and understandable.

Setting of Novel: The Secret Life of Bees took place in the 1960s in Sylvan, South Carolina

Lily and Rosaleen throughout the book and the movie seem to have a good relationship. Lily’s mother past away at an early age, Rosaleen was the only female influenced in Lily’s life. Rosaleen helps Lily adapt to her childhood and becomes her only resource information her work has been pretty hard she needs to be like a mother to Lily. Lily and Rosaleen were very close, and although Rosaleen has been the family housekeeper, she always stays with lily and supports her throughout the novel. According to the secret life of bee’s, Lily was motherless and Rosaleen is the adult female in the household, she would always take care of Lily, cooking meals and maintaining the house. She gives Lily love, rescuing Lily from her father’s extreme punishment

The Secret Life of Bees begins in the town of Sylvan, South Carolina and tells the story of 14-year-old Lily Melissa Owens. She lives on a peach orchard with her neglectful and abusive father, T. Ray. They have Black maid named Rosaleen who is a companion and caretaker of Lily. The book opens with Lily's discovery of bees in her bedroom and the story of how she killed her mother. The eve before her birthday Lily sneaks out into the peach orchard to visit the box of her mother’s belongings which is buried there however before she can hide them T. Ray finds her and punishes her. The next day Rosaleen and Lily head into town where Rosaleen is arrested for pouring her bottle of tobacco spit on three white men. Lily breaks her out of prison and they begin hitchhiking toward Tiburon, SC, a town Lily had seen on the back of a picture of a black Virgin Mary which her mom had owned. They hitch a ride to Tiburon and once there, they buy lunch at a general store, and Lily sees a picture of the same Virgin Mary on a jar of honey. She asks the store owner where it came from and he gives her directions to the Boatwright house. They then meet the makers of the honey: August, May and June Boatwright, who are all black. Lily makes up a wild story about being recently orphaned. The sisters welcome Rosaleen and Lily into their home. They are then introduced to beekeeping and the Boatwright’s way of life. Lily learns more about the Black Madonna honey that the sisters make. She begins working

The Importance of Family     In almost every circumstance, one relies on those who came before them. Whether it is a human, dog, or even a bee, loyalty is a key point in one’s life. Throughout The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, the motif of bees is often mentioned as an important part of Lily’s life. Even when she travels away from home and moves in with the Calendar sisters, bees are an important part of her life. Her new mother figure, August Boatwright, explains to her the importance of a bee colony, and how bees make the world a better place.

In the novel , The Secret Life of Bees , Sue Monk kidd highly portrays the relationship between Lily and Rosaleen in somewhat different ways. These ways are all very similar towards Rosaleen having a very mother like relationship affect with Lily. It is very mother like due to the fact that Lily lost her mom at a very young age and Rosaleen soon starts to fill in that empty space for Lily as her “stand-in mother”. It is Also noted how Rosaleen never had a child of her own so Lily and her get along quite well throughout the novel.

Rosaleen’s Character in The Secret Life of Bees There are many important characters in The Secret Life of Bees that help Lily on her journey to find out about her mother. “Side characters” such as Zach, August, May, June, and Rosaleen, all help Lily to grow and change and to learn more about her past and her mother's past. Rosaleen is an important character in the story, she acts in as Lily’s stand-in mother before she runs away with Rosaleen to Tiburon. At Tiburon she stays with Lily in the honey house for most of the time while they try to survive together, and after a while Rosaleen is show to be less of a mother and more of a friend to Lily, sticking by her side through thick and thin. Rosaleen is mainly important because of the lessons she taught Lily about racism in the real world and dealing with problems.

In America over sixty percent of children suffer from neglect, sixteen point six from physical abuse and seven point one percent from emotional abuse in their household. Sue Monk Kidd portrays fourteen year old Lily Owens to have an abusive father in her novel The Secret Life Of Bees. Lily’s father T-Ray is abusive in many ways but he chooses to manipulate her more than anything else. He keeps important information about her deceased mother away from her, he forces her to sit on grits for hours at a time until her knees are bruised, and does not hesitate to hurt her.

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees written by sue Monk Kidd, it discusses the big idea of taking risks and the overall picture of racism in a certain community. It all begins with Lily; the main character, being told by her father that she killed her mother when she was just a little kid. This is something that she has had to live with all her life. As a “fill-in mother” she has their house maid. She is an African-American woman known as Rosaleen. She has become Lily’s mother and has helped her to grow and become who she really is. Along with that, she doesn’t feel comfortable calling her father “dad,” so she calls him T. Ray. All that he has to give to Lily is a picture that her mother once had, this is what gives her the idea to run away to find this place. Meanwhile, when Rosaleen had insulted some white men, she got thrown in jail and Lily had to go home to figure out what she was going to do next. She came up with a plan. This is what she did, she went to the jail and snuck Rosaleen out, then the both of them ran. They were

Additionally, another prevailing theme is dealing with race. Being that the backdrop of this story is Southern America in 1964, it is expected that white America is shown as derogatory towards black people. The author integrates race relations into the novel to give an accurate depiction of life during this time period. Rosaleen works as a good representative of black America. An example being, when she tries to register her vote and a handful of white men harass her. Rosaleen does not tolerate this and fights backs for the rights she deserves. This attitude is what delivers her a harsh beating and an unrightful place in jail. Furthermore, as Lily becomes more acquainted with the honey-making sisters, she discovers her own underlying prejudice

First of all, The Secret Life of Bees is a 1960’s novel based on a child named Lily, who was bossed around and treated unfairly by her dad T-Ray, which he himself had a black maid named Rosaleen working for him since before Lily was born. Lily and Rosaleen had a very special relationship that had loyalty, trust,

others, Schwartz (2016) informs that neonicotinoids have been found to be toxic to honey bees,