Discrimination In The Secret Life Of Bees

Conflict is a key aspect in all pieces of literature. Without it, works would be very boring, predictable and would not be able to draw the reader in. There is usually one main conflict the protagonist faces, whether it is against an evil villain or the evil inside their own self. In the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the courageous protagonist, Lily, struggles with an internal conflict with the guilt of possibly being the cause of her mother's death and the absence of knowledge about her mother. Following a clue left by her mother, Lily runs away from home and meets the "calendar sisters" in Tiburon, SC. There, she is finally able to discover who her mother actually was and learn the truth behind her mother's death: that Lily had accidentally shot her. Upon uncovering the whole truth, Lily is finally able to begin to forgive herself and shrug off the heavy guilt that had burdened her for years. Through Lily's struggle to figure out who her mother was and accept what happened to her, Sue Monk Kidd wishes to communicate that even if something

“There is nothing perfect,’ August said from the doorway. ‘There is only life” (Kidd 256). This quote from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd explains Lily Owens life, a young girl with an unloving father and a mother who abandoned her and was later shot and killed by her own daughter, Lily. Lily has a hard time finding her place in the world and understanding why her life is the way it is. She decides it is time for her to take charge of her own life. She finds herself in Tiburon, South Carolina with her nanny Rosaleen and three black women, August, June and May who unravel the story to her mother’s past. Lily’s story can be seen in different layers, the most significant layers are the religious, thematic and symbolic layers. These three layers are essential when trying to gain understanding of The Secret Life of Bees.

“‘People can start out one way, and by the time life gets through with them they end up completely different’” (Kidd 293). This quote from August Boatwright perfectly encompasses what happens to Lily during The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. All throughout the novel, the increased maturity of Lily’s character is very noticeable. At the beginning of the book, Lily, a 14-year-old white girl who is living in the South in the 1960’s, accepts segregation without questioning it. By the end, her perspective on life and others changes to reflect a more sophisticated woman. Through characterization, Lily matures as a person because she learns how to face conflicts as an adult and treat people in a grown-up way.

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

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,

"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.”

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

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.

Over one hundred years ago, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln and in Martin Luther King’s words, “came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice,”(1). Today, we still face racism and the destruction that it creates, therefore racism is a hindrance towards a peaceful society, restricting equality for all.

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

In this essay, Patterson gives a detailed analysis on the profound issues during the Civil Rights movement in America. He mentions the cause and effects of racial profiling and the discrimination that the blacks endured. Patterson also gives attention to the expansion and the progression of racial protesting and the reaction of the African-Americans on specific events. such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Voting Rights Act. This insightful article relates to The Secret Life of Bees because the novel includes the signing of the Civil Rights Act and explained the negative effects towards the white community. It showed the outrage and the protesting that the blacks had to face before finally getting their voice heard and the progression that

The Secret Life of Bees is a novel written to display the unfairness and inequality between races. To portray the true injustice of events that occurred the novel needs to be historically accurate. In order for the readers to believe what is happening in the book was a real event that occurred the author had to develop the characters around a specific event. In the book the text states “‘ I’m going to vote that's what.”... There was Rosaleen grabbed and thrashing side to side”(Kidd32). Here the author portrays the struggle colored people went through to vote. In order to get the readers to fully understand the situation colored people were put in she shows a character going through a like occurrence. In this case she shows Rosaleen in vivid

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

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

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