Examples Of Character Development In The Secret Life Of Bees

(TS) In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens does not have an empathetic relationship with her parents as a result of the loss of her mother and an abusive father; however, Lily gains a new family figure, August Boatwright, who shows her the true empathy that is present between a parent and their child. (PS) Lily Owens’s absence of a mother and a “real” father causes Lily not to have a relationship with her parents that is filled with affection for one another. (SS) When Lily lost her mother, Deborah Fontell, she was told that she had shot and killed Deborah. (SS) Lily would say, “I would meet her saying, ‘Mother forgive. Please forgive,’” and she would kiss my skin till I grew chapped and tell me I was not to blame”

Once Lily accepts what she has done and learns that her mother's death did not make her a bad person, her conflict can finally be resolved. As a result of resolving her conflict, she is able to mature because of the struggle, just like other people are able to grow and evolve from their own mistakes. This is evident when she admits "Before coming here, my whole life had been nothing but a hole where my mother should have been, and this hole had made me different, left me always aching for something, but never once did I think what he'd lost or how it might've changed him" (Kidd 293). Lily finally realizes that her mother's death has not only affected her, but also her father, T. Ray, and the calendar sisters. Through the course of Lily's struggle, Lily learns a lot about life and matures into a wiser

“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.

In addition to the Black Mary, Rosaleen showers Lily with love and support. Rosaleen treats Lily like she is her own daughter. Rosaleen accepts the way Lily is and has faith in her. "'Here you go. Happy Birthday" (28). Rosaleen cares about Lily and knows when something is important to her, like her Birthday. Lily never gets anything from T-Ray on her Birthday, but Rosaleen cares so much about her that she still gets Lily something. Rosaleen can tell when Lily is in pain or is sad like most mothers can. "'Well why don't we sit down on the side of the road awhile?'" (28). Rosaleen acknowledges the fact that Lily feels upset, and is comfortable expressing the need to rest and relax. Since Lily has known Rosaleen a long time she is comfortable expressing herself around Rosaleen and knows that Rosaleen will listen to her problems and insecurities. "'I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason'" (11). Rosaleen and Lily have a connection that most mothers and daughters have. They care

Eleanor Roosevelt once said “A woman is like a teabag, you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” Eleanor’s meaning behind these words was that a woman is much more than you expect her to be. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character, Lily, meets three African-American sisters who go through difficult situations throughout the book. After meeting the sisters, Lily begins to understand the importance of women in society. A woman figure in your life can help you with your problems. They tend to heal a broken person with their mother-like qualities. Some people don't see how significant women are to humankind.

Because of this, Lily needs someone to guide her as she is growing up. The only person Lily could talk to about her life, especially personal things, was her Black caregiver, Rosaleen. This was Lily’s first motherly figure besides her own mother. After Lily ventured out to Tiburon, SC, she established strong relationships with August, May, and June Boatwright. These women took Lily in and provide many things for her, but August Boatwright has supported Lily the most since they first met. She helps to guide Lily as another motherly figure in her life. As well as supplying for Lily, the Boatwright sisters introduced The Black Madonna to Lily. After days of learning the importance of The Black Madonna to the sisters, Lily initiates that the Madonna is a mother to her and a mother to

Many people in their life will feel compassionate towards another person or character in a novel because of their personality, behaviors and actions. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the protagonist, Lily, has a father referred to as T. Ray. In the beginning of the book, typical readers may label T. Ray as the antagonist because he is described as an abusive, cold hearted character. After reading and learning more about his past, T. Ray can eventually be considered a sympathetic character. With the death of his wife and the constant reminder of her every time he looks at his daughter, T-Ray has reasons for being portrayed as a cruel and resentful person.

The Secret Life of Bees delineates an inspirational story in which the community, friendship and faith guide the human spirit to overcome anything. The story follows Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl who desperately wants to discover the cause of her mothers death. Her father T. Ray gives her no answers, which leads their maid, Rosaleen, to act as her guardian. Together, Lily and Rosaleen run away to Tiburon, South Carolina and find a welcoming community. It is in Tiburon that Lily learns many life lessons, including many about herself. In her novel The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd explores a theme of spiritual growth through Lily's search for home as well as a maternal figure.

She went out of her way to help Rosaleen escape from the hospital and help her be happy unlike others that would have seen Rosaleen as just a house maid and wouldn’t really care for her as much as Lily did. After this particular event happened in the story, a different impression on Lily came to my mind. I now see her as an overall strong person. I see her this way because despite her dealing with her Mom dying and having a rough life living with Dad, she still managed to push that away and helped others when she felt like they needed

In the beginning of the book Lily, is an innocent child who just wants to be loved desperately. Even though T-Ray is cruel to her she still yearns for his affection because she feels lost and unloved without her mother. Just like the bees in her bedroom, she is aimless -- “The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my heart down its seam” (1). She feels a connection to these bees because she, too, is living for the sake of living, without a sense of importance or

Throughout the story Lily has a void in her life which she so desperately needs filled and that void is her longing for maternal love and answers about her mother who died when Lily was only a young child. It is clear that Lily is unhappy in Sylvan where she lives with her abusive and unloving father T. Ray and after seeing

Lily understands a lot more than what she understood before and had also experienced a death first hand. Lily learns more about her mother each day, but cannot relinquish her tragic death. Lily realizes there is a mother- shaped breach in her heart. Later on in the story, Lily ends up learning more than needed

From “Secret life of Bees’’ , I am extremely inspired by Lily Owens. Kidd makes me Yes admire her in so many ways. Lily is the story’s protagonist. In the book, Kidd shows us many harsh difficulties that Lily had to overcome.

Mother Appreciation Everyday Every morning when my mother wakes me up to get ready for a long day of school, I don’t appreciate it. I don’t appreciate all the little things she does for me and there is a lot of them. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily has no one left but her babysitter. They ran away together from her abusive father to Tiburon South Carolina because her mother left a picture with that specific location on it.

In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl from South Carolina, is forced to run away from her abusive father, T. Ray. She must learn how to live her life as Lily Williams in the home of three black women, August, May, and June Boatwright. She needs to find out who her mother is before it’s too late, but will she? I chose three quotations that show the theme of the story.