Internal Conflict In Sue Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

Ray was Lily’s abusive father that does not care about Lily’s clothing, sleepovers, or even football games (8). (SS) When Lily calls T. Ray and he cannot answer a simple question about her, she tries to convince herself that it does not matter by telling herself, “Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry. So what if he doesn’t know the color you love best? So what?” (160). (SS) Lily has the idea that she is “unlovable” and wonders “who could love her” (242). (SS) But little does Lily know that a very significant figure will come into her life and will show Lily what being loved by a “family” member feels like. (PS) August Boatwright, an African American beekeeper, shows Lily her empathetic heart right when Lily walks through her door. (SS) When Lily comes to the Boatwright household seeking for a place to stay, August opens up her home to Lily, exclaiming, “Well, you can stay here till you figure out what to do. We can’t have you living on the side of the road” (72). (SS) August could have turned Lily away and told her to find another place to stay, but she graciously opens up her home to Lily. (SS) In the same way, when Lily faints of embarrassment during a Daughters of Mary gathering, August acts as if it is her fault by telling Lily, “I should’ve turned on the fans in

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a book discussing the internal strife of a young white girl, in a very racist 1960’s south. The main character, Lily Owens, faces many problems she must overcome, including her personal dilemma of killing her own mother in an accident. Sue Monk Kidd accurately displays the irrationality of racism in the South during mid- 1960's not only by using beautiful language, but very thoroughly developed plot and character development. Kidd shows the irrationality of racism through the characters in her book, The Secret Life of Bees and shows that even during that time period, some unique people, were able to see beyond the heavy curtain of racism that separated people from each

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character, Lily Owens struggles with the notion that she killed her mother and has to live with her abusive, neglectful father, T-Ray. Throughout, Lily searches for information about her mother and why she left her. Unexpectedly, she stumbles upon new mother figures that play an important role in changing Lily to the person she is in later. The typical sequence of a hero’s journey includes a departure, initiation and trials, and reintegration into society. By the end, Lily Owens developes into a more mature, independent young women after experiencing a difficult childhood.

Ray lying to Lily about her mom is a very big scene in the book, because this is mentioned quite often throughout the novel and it appears in about almost every chapter. This connects to Lily coming of age because when T. Ray is lying to her throughout the book, she starts to catch onto it, because she is getting older and she is starting to mature more. She also starts to figure out more things about her mother through Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters: “My mother died when I was 4 years old” (Kidd 4). Lily is coming of age because she now understands that what she did wasn’t good and she wants to take it back. It also relates because Lily is starting to realize that her father is not trustworthy and he might be lying: “My first and only memory of my mother was the day she died” (5). Lily then had to figure out how to survive without her in her life. Lily never really knew anything about her mother because she shot her, but she always remembered what happened on that day. After this happened she always bugged T. Ray to tell her about her mom: “The day she died was December 3rd 1954” (5). Lily is coming of age during this because she has to learn to live without a mom. This part connects to the thesis because Lily starts to think that some of the things he say’s might not be true. She starts to realize right from

Authors tend to display their personalities and personal stories throughout their work. While the words on the paper may read one thing, the deeper connections and references hidden in the writing leads to even more nail-biting questions. Sue Monk Kidd was influenced to write her novel The Secret Life of Bees by the dreadful experiences she faced during her childhood, an early passion of literature, and finally her exploration of religious beliefs. Her childhood was most notably affected in the summer of 1964, when she witnessed public cruelty to blacks that, no doubt, haunted her for the rest of her life. Clearly, her first hand experiences that summer played an important role of setting it as a Civil Rights backdrop in The Secret Life of Bees.

In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd alludes to the Cold War to demonstrate the tension of the Civil Rights Era. For instance, “‘What happened?’ I asked. “Did they drop the atom bomb?’ Ever since we’d started bomb drills at school, I couldn't help but thinking my days were numbered” (19). Lily uttered this statement because the news broadcast on the television agitated Rosaleen. Alternatively, what Lily thought was the start of another war, was actually the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As for the Cold War, this was a time of great tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from around 1947 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In fact, most Americans worried that the Soviet Union would drop

The worst thing about being lied to is knowing the you weren't worth the truth. In the novel the Secret life of Bees the author Sue Monk Kidd talks about Lily Owens a fourteen year old white girl lives on a peach farm with his abusive father T-Ray and his housekeeper Rosaleen . She believes she shot and kill her mom Deborah when she was four years old . In this novel the theme of lies /deceit is developed through certain characters and their motives for deception.

Ray states “The truth is your mother ran off and left you.” (Monk Kidd 39). This quote structures how lily feels about her mother. As Lily doesn’t believe her dad it makes her feel like her mother was not a nice mom even though she wants to think that. This quote develops how lily will try to learn more about her mother and find her. Also I feel like this made lily get angrier with T. Ray. I feel like the author put this quote in the novel because it shows that Lily’s mother didn’t want T. Ray nor Lily and lily feels that her mother loves her. Also I think the author included this in the novel to show controversy between lily and her mother and lily and her father. This is because this puts her in a spot where she wants her mom but she doesn’t. Lily also gets to know more about her mother from the boatwrights and she is very upset with the situation that is going on. Just because T.Ray said this, this made Lily set off on a mission to find out the truth of her mother, to see if she is what lily expects or if she is like T.Ray. On top of this in Lilys father T.Ray abused her. So as you read the novel you will realize that she needs to find a new house to live

Ray is Lily’s cruel and abusive father who is dedicated to finding her after she runs away because he is mad at his wife for leaving him and instead of caring for Lily he takes his anger out on her. Throughout, T. Ray takes his anger out on Lily in the form of emotional abuse such as telling Lily that her mom left her and didn’t care about her as well as cruel punishments such as kneeling on martha whites if she disobeys him. As an illustration “T. Ray,” I said. It’s me - Lily. He had a fistful of my hair and wouldn’t let go.

Ray is not an ideal role model for his daughter, Lily, portraying a violent, selfish, and vicious attitude because of his lack of faith. T. Ray does not exemplify a caring, compassionate attitude which is a central attribute to almost every religion. T.Ray persuades her that she killed her mother. As first-grader Lily is selling his peaches on the side of the road, T.Ray says, “Then we turned around and you were standing there holding the gun. You’d picked it up off the floor.

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.

When she runs away from home she goes against the risks. “In a matter of seconds I knew exactly what I 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.” Lily was tired of being treated badly by T-Ray. And after he starts insulting her with speaking about her mother, she finds the best choice is to run away.

Question 1- Kidd’s decision to write The Secret Life of Bees in the perspective of young Lily Owens allow the reader to deeply understand the internal struggles that have faced her from a young age. Through out the novel, Lily is looking for acceptance, understanding, and love, all things that she hasn’t felt for as long as she can remember. These feelings, or lack there of stem from the mystery and guilt surrounding the death of Deborah Owens, Lily’s mother. A young three year old Lily is presumably the cause of Deborah’s accidental death, and it’s something she’s never been able to get over. “This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away” (Kidd 8). The direct look into the heart and mind of Miss. Owens allows the reader to become connected and invested into the story. This being said if her

The Secret Life Of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, should be considered a classic because of its unique way of relating the characters and the story line to the reader's emotions and to history. In The Secret Life Of Bees- and all books- descriptive detail and skillful writing is crucial. The principle reason this story is a classic is because of how Sue Monk Kidd was able to use a metaphor throughout the entire story. Bees represent society and life and without help from other bees and the queen bee, the hive dies- an incredible and unique way to show the readers the importance of appreciating life. Classics need numerous features to be considered one of the highest quality, and The Secret Life Of Bees has very many. Italo Calvino, Nelson

T. Ray’s neglect and violent nature is entirely contrastive to the supportive environment August provides. T. Ray is violent, physically and verbally abusive, and has very low standards for Lily whereas August is loving, nurturing, has high educational standards and is a good role model. Although it is argued T. Ray is abusive considering his past, there is no excuse for harming his child. Because T. Ray is Lily’s father, she still loves him. The abuse forces a categorically difficult family dynamic on the Owens. Lily loves her father and it can be surmised that T. Ray loves her as well, so when the family is introduced love and trust into a situation of systematic abuse an uncomfortable and confusing internal dynamic is expected. Lily feels as if her life is jar of swarming bees: “‘You can go,’ I said. But the bees remained there, like planes on a runway not knowing they'd been cleared for takeoff. They crawled on their stalk legs around the curved perimeters of the glass as if the world had shrunk to that jar. I tapped the glass, even laid the jar on its side, but those crazy bees stayed put.” (28). Lily quickly realizes that her current situation reflects the actions of the bees. The bees fought their condition at first, then eventually accepted their environment. She was swarming at first -- foraging for food and trying to get out of her prevalent state. Lily is constantly finding herself looking for a way out. Towards the end, she gets tired. Lily is done fighting her