Lily Interview Questions

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

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

Through use of indirect characterization, Lily’s words and actions reveal a pivotal part of her character: her clever intelligence. This first becomes evident after her African American friend, Rosaleen, spills a cup of her snuff spit on the shoes of a racist white man that was provoking her. The minister at her church is

“At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound” ( Kidd 1). This quote represents the story about a girl named lily and how her life turns around after one day. In this journal I will evaluate why lily decided to leave, question why T-ray is so abusive to Lily and predict where lily where go next.

“‘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.

Ray looked at Lily he realized that he couldn't stand her anymore because she looked too much like Deborah, which is when August offers him a way out of the uncomfortable situation. On page 298 she said "Mr. Owens, you would be doing Lily and the rest of us a favor by leaving her here...We love Lily, and we'll take care of her I promise you that. We'll start her in school here and keep her straight." August gives T. Ray a way out of taking care of his daughter and having to be reminded of Deborah and it also solves the major conflict of whether Lily and Rosaleen are going to have to back to Sylvan and stay with T. Ray or whether she will be able to stay with the Boatwrights. Adding on, just as T. Ray is about to leave Lily runs up to him, and asks him what really happened that day when her mother died and on page 299 it states "You didn't mean it, but it was you...Maybe he was telling me the truth, but you could never know a hundred percent with T. Ray." This also is a very important part of the novel because Lily realizes she lost her real mother but when she looks at the porch she has 8 other mothers. On page 302 it states "All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street." This quote is very important because it finally dawns on Lily that she isn't alone, and she doesn't just have one mother but eight of them. Furthermore, another conflict that is resolved, is about Lily breaking Rosaleen out of jail. On page 301 it states "He says they

People make decisions everyday from simple things like whether or not to eat breakfast or larger decisions like whether or not to take the new promotion at work. These decisions are usually dawned upon us suddenly and we look to others to help decipher which decision is the ideal decision. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Melissa Owens is actuated by a variety of characters to make both ambiguous and venerable judgments throughout the novel. She did not do this on her own for she had people in her life communicating with her to finalize the verdicts on her decisions. Some of the persuaders were T. Ray, May, June, August, Zach, the Daughters of Mary, and even her mother, Deborah Fontanel Owens. Saying that, they all

T. Ray breaks the news that Lily’s mom had left Lily with him and had come back to pack up her stuff when the big argument between he and Lily’s mom happened. At that point, Lily has enough of T. Ray, so she starts to have a mini-mental breakdown. Amidst the chaos going on inside her mind, she hears a voice say, “Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open” (41). That little voice means all the difference in the world to Lily. To Lily, it is as if her mother is saying to leave T. Ray and start a new life. Right then she knows that she has to

DocViewer Page of 3 Zoom Pages In the beginning of the book Lily’s relationship with her parents was not really good , she really did not know her mother all she knew was the horrifying confusing accident that happened when she was only four years old. All Lily remembered about her mother was when her mother was fighting with T. Ray and she was packing all of her clothes , going in and out of the closest and seeing T.Ray yelling at her mom. Lily also remembered that she saw a gun on the floor and Lily grabbed it and shot her mother on accident.

Luckily for Lily, she comes upon the Boatwright sisters once she reaches Tiburon. Because of the fact Lily does not have anyone to share her love with, she is compelled to stay and live with the Boatwrights. At one point in the novel, Lily and August are having a conversation when August asks Lily “What else do you love Lily?”(Kidd 39). Lily then thinks to herself, “No one had ever asked me that before. What did I love? Right off the bat I wanted to say that I loved the picture of my mother…but I had to swallow that back”(39). Lily does not feel comfortable enough yet that she says, “ I love writing poems, just give me something to write, and I’ll love it” despite the fact that Lily really loves August (39). She loves August so much that she would rather stay in Tiburon with the Boatwrights than be with her own father T. Ray. The loss of Deborah results in Lily going to obtain love somewhere other than her own home. This is also why Lily takes Rosaleen with her. Rosaleen is a black nanny who used to work on T. Ray’s farm. She has been there for Lily in the past but she cannot always be there one hundred percent because of her race. Due to Deborah’s death, Lily does not have a mother figure, however, he journey to Tiburon with Rosaleen proves to be a success as she finds the Boatwrights and strengthens her relationship with her nanny, Rosaleen.

Like August, Lily could also be a beekeeper. In addition to teaching Lily about bees, August also gives Lily multiple pieces of advice throughout the book. An example of this is when Lily and August are talking about Lily’s past. When Lily discovers the truth about her mother leaving, Lily is filled with an uncontrollable rage. August says to Lily, “Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes, Lily. Every last one. Were all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake but she tried to fix it.’ ‘There is nothing perfect, there is only life.”(Kidd ) August tries to give Lily advice when she is going through a difficult time in an attempt to help.

Lily saw her mother as a bad person for abandoning her. August explains to Lily that her mother made a mistake of leaving her with T.Ray. She also tells Lily that her mother tried to fix it be returning to get her. This conversation is an important factor when Lily learns to forgive her mother and herself.

While Lily was at August’s she experienced freedom, love, more motherly love, death, fear, and a rollercoaster of emotions. By

He said “ you tell me where you are right now, do you hear me? Do

Lily feels alone in this world. She is ostracized at school, treated with an absence of love and lives day to day knowing that she has committed irreversible acts. When she thinks about her mother all of these complications melt away in the warm allure she feels.