Biblical Allusion – 1
The Virgin Mary
An allusion is a literary device to express a reference to another piece of media. Allusions are used frequently in A Secret life of Bees to influence the characters personality traits and underlying story themes. In the novel, Sue Mon Kidd uses constant allusions to the Virgin Mary. She writes using Lily’s voice, “Looking back on it now, I want to say the bees were sent to me. I want to say they showed up like the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary, setting events in motion I could never have guessed.” Page 2. This is an example of a biblical allusion. The Virgin Mary was the virgin mother of Jesus Christ. She was a 1st-century BC Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth according to the New Testament and the Holy Quran. In the novel Secret Life of Bees, she is often cited as “the blessed Mary” or “blessed among women” by the followers of Mary.
How does it connect to Lily?
…show more content…
“Our Lady of Chains” they call her, she represents the ultimate feminine mother figure, a powerful symbolic representation of comfort, compassion, and strength. “She was black as she could be, twisted like driftwood from being out in the weather, her face a map of all storms and journeey’s she’d been through. Her right arm was raised, as if she was pointing the way, except her fingers were closed in a fist. It gave her a serious look, like she could straighten you out if necessary.” (4.29-30). Lily grieves the loss of her own mother. The death of Deborah Fontanel Owens have left Lily without guidance of a monarchal figure in her life, excluding Rosaleen. Due to her need for a female figure of guidance, she is attracted to The Black Madonna’s prospective to fill that empty gap. When she visits the statue late into the night, Lily thinks: “I live in a hive of darkness, and you are my mother, I told her. You are the mother of thousands.
Lily starts off stuck living in an unloving, abusive household and decides to free herself from the negative atmosphere that she had been living in her whole life. Lily is perpetually abused by her father. He forces her to kneel on Martha White's, gets exasperated every time she speaks, and yells at her for no reason. Lily is not the only one noticing the terrible treatment, Rosaleen does too. Once after Lily had to kneel on the Martha White's Rosaleen said to her, “Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you” (Kidd 25). Noticing the unloving treatment Lily gets, Rosaleen knew that their household was demoralizing place for Lily to be in, which is why she didn’t question when Lily when she later runs away. Lily one day realizes she needs to do something about her horrible life at home. While sitting in her room she hears a voice in her
Everyone needs someone to lead them down the right path and to teach them about the “real world”. For example, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is about a 14 year old girl named Lily who runs away from home with her black “nanny” Rosaleen. Looking for more information on her mother, Deborah, they end up in Tiburon, South Carolina at the Boatwright sisters’ house. August, May, and June Boatwright allow Lily and Rosaleen to stay so they can earn some money and during their stay May teaches Lily some very important life lessons. May is a pivotal character because she helped Lily’s development by teaching her that the world is an unjust and unpredictable place and that there are always positive outcomes that come out of suffering.
When one looks up the definition for family it says a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. Well August is the parent and June, Rosaleen, May, and Lily are all the children. We have a family right here. Motherhood was a motif that helped play into the theme of family in this book. Lily considers Rosaleen as a mother, yet Rosaleen is not as sophisticated as she wants a mother to be. Rosaleen is the person to help Lily when she is hurt, who defends Lily against her father, has the courage and strength to go and vote and is a motherly figure to Lily. August can be looked at as a mother too. She gives Lily wise wisdom, she is there for Lily through the pain about her mother, she teaches her about beekeeping, something her mother enjoyed too, she teaches her about religion, and the courage to be a leader. Lastly, her mother, Deborah is her real mother. She helps Lily realize that nobody is perfect and even mothers who love their kids need the courage to carry on. Lily learns from all these important figures that she just needs to be the best person she can be from all the wisdom and courage all these mothers help Lily understand. “I accidently killed her,” I said staring straight into her eyes. “Listen to me now,” said August, tilting my chin to her face. “That’s a terrible, terrible thing for you to live with. But you’re not unlovable. Even if you did accidently kill
In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, a fourteen-year-old girl Lily Owens along with her black housekeeper Rosaleen, escape to a town in South Carolina called Tiburon after Rosaleen got thrown into prison after insulting a group of racists. There, they meet a trio of black beekeeping sisters who take them in and teach Lily about beekeeping. Through these experiences, Lily has discovered many things. But these could not be shown to her without three influentials in her life. The three characters are Deborah Fontanel, Lily’s mother, The Black Mary Statue, a statue that symbolizes strength, and guidance for blacks and August Boatwright, a middle aged black beekeeper who comforts and guides Lily.
Imagine a play cast. Include everyone, the crew and actors. A feeling of unity pulses through the air right before the show begins. There is a sense of harmony and solidarity. This community is a feeling Lily Owens in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd never knows until she is 14. The Secret Life of Bees takes place in the 1960’s in Virginia. It focuses on Lily, a young girl with dreams of finding out about her dead mother. Eventually, she runs away from her abusive father T. Ray. Her heart takes her to the Boatwright sisters, three African-American women who take her in. There Lily learns about the abilities of a group of women and their healing power. That nurturing force is symbolized by the Black
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd introduces Lily Owens as a very kind and caring person. The book takes place in the 1950’s when there was a lot of discrimination, and Lily believed everyone should be equal. When Lily runs away from her abusive father, it represents her bravery and shows that Lily stands up when there is a problem and doesn't let it just happen. Lily leaves with Rosaleen because Rosaleen was in trouble. This shows that Lily would also do anything for the people she cares about. Lily has a few qualities that are similar to mine. One is that when she believes in something she stands up for it and doesn't just sit back and watch it happen. This is something i strongly believe. If there is something you can do to help someone why not do it?
In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a young girl named Lily struggles with growing up with only a harsh father and a housemaid while trying to find her own place in the world. At the age of four, Lily accidentally shoots her mother while trying to help her in a fight against Lily’s dad. Ever since that day, Lily has a difficult time trying to be a lady and trying to cope with her somewhat abusive father. One day, when Lily is fourteen, the housemaid Rosaleen is sent to jail for pouring dip spit on white men’s shoes but later gets assaulted by the men and is taken to the hospital where Lily goes to sneak her out. In order to help incorporate the story’s title into the story, the author has written epigraphs, that are about bees, for every chapter in the book. Chapter two’s epigraph says “ On leaving the old nest, the swarm normally flies only a few metres and settles. Scout bees look for a suitable place to start the new colony. Eventually, one location wins favor and the whole swarm takes to the air”(34). This epigraph parallels the story because of the similarities in how bees move on and look for somewhere to start their new lives and how Lily and Rosaleen try to start their new
An allusion is a expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.Allusions to saints,miracles and religion in the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davis is imperative in the character development of Dunstable Ramsay. Robertson Davies allusions to Saint Dunstan ,Dunstan's life long quest to prove that Mary Dempster is a saint and religious allusions are a very important component in the novel.
In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, August is a strong role model in that she always uses language that is suitable for someone like Lily whereas T. Ray has a foul mouth.
Oprah Winfrey once said "The struggle of my life created empathy I could relate to pain, being abandoned, having people not love me." In this quote, Oprah illustrates the pain she experienced to reflect on who she is and who she will be towards others. Corresponding throughout various events in the book, the Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, the static character May Boatwright absorbed tragic pain from others which helped Lily discovery her inner meaning, and developed strength in many ways. By being who she is, May helped Lily developed knowledge and importance throughout the story that lead to many hidden treasures.
The Civil Right Act occurred in 1960 which allowed African-Americans more rights. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees many characters challenges and uncover the meaning of accepting taboo ideas. Set in 1964, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees suggests that accepting taboo actions does not necessarily compromises a person’s moral compass and can lead to an awareness and understanding of the world.
In The Secret Life of Bees, beehives serve a huge symbol through out the book. August is a beekeeper and a beeswax/ honey manufacturer on a farm that was inherited from her grandfather. August has created a comparable community of bees in her own house. In August’s community, she has female dominant bees in her beehive. Her bees include her other ‘calendar sisters’, June, May, and August. The queen bee is the ruler of the beehive. She acts as a mother to her bees. The Black Mary statue in the book serves as a mother bee in the beehive. In order to keep the beehive safe, there are many formalities that the calendar sisters and others must follow. Some of these rituals include mourning, celebration, and prayer. For example, when May commits suicide,
The theme dealing with a loss is a theme that shows up a lot throughout the book. Lily is having to deal with the death of her mother and not having anyone there to make her feel loved. Only in the end of the book, she ends up with too many mothers to even count. She has August, June, the black Mary, Rosaleen, and all of the woman in the Daughters of Mary group. August, June, and May also had to deal with the death of May’s twin sister April. The death of April is especially hard on May and towards the end of the story May kills herself. The death of May is not only hard on August and June but also on Lily, Rosaleen, Zach, and everyone in the Daughters of Mary. Each loss that they had to deal with would bring each of them closer and closer to each other. For example, if Lily wouldn’t have missed her mother and left, she and Rosaleen would probably not have even met the calendar sisters and everyone
“I loved the idea of bees having a secret life, just like the one I was living.” –The Secret Life of Bees (page 148)
The secret life of Bees, is about a fourteen year old girl named Lily who is White. She lives with her father T. Ray who is a peach farmer in Sylvan, South Carolina. In the first chapter Lily is waiting for the bees that live in the walls of her bedroom, as they do every night. T. Ray does not believe her story about the bees, so she decides to collect the bees in a jar to prove him wrong. Rosaleen her nanny and housekeeper is the one who looks after Lily.