Quest to Find Her Mother in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

In The Secret Life of Bees, author Sue Monk Kidd, portrays the transformation of Lily Owens from a child burdened with the guilt of her mother's death to a strong and confident young woman, as a result of living with May, Rosaleen, and August. Lily, burdened with the guilt of her mother's death becomes terrified of her father, T. Ray. August and May guide Lily’s growth to a life of faith and devotion while Rosaleen remains as Lily’s constant companion. As Lily finds her true identity she transforms…

characters need mother figures to rely on to achieve their love needs. If they were ever separated from their mothers, characters would need to search for love somewhere else. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily loses her mother at a young age, and as a result, she looks to the Boatwright sisters for love and support. Similarly, in William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet is not close to her daughter. Rather than helping Juliet and caring for her, Lady Capulet…

Now. 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…

to ge used to is the darkness”(Kidd 82). The bee is an insect that spends all day working: working to create a home, working to spread pollen and working to create honey. A bee's life and the society of bees can be closely related to the life of humans. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the author conveys her lessons about human life through the imagery of bees. Bee's need a queen in order to survive. While there are thousands of worker bees per successful hive, the queen,…

In Sue Monk Kidds The Secret Life of Bees, the main character runs away from home, to get away from her father. Her mother died when she was little and she was told she had a part of her death. She finds a picture of her mother and a town name is mentioned on the back of it. This is where she runs off to to find more about her mother. Lily the main character realizes that racism has a big impact in her life through the relationships with the boatwright sisters, when she runs away to Tiburon…

Haunted by the her own memories, Lily Owens finds comfort in the humming of the bees. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd writes about the life of young girl whose spontaneous decisions lead her to her mother’s past. Lily’s life has revolved around the lack of a mother. Her father, T. Ray, is a harsh and unloving peach farmer who punishes Lily unreasonably and does not fulfil his father like position. Lily’s adventure begins after catching a few bees in a jar. She empathizes with…

2009 The Secret Life of Bees Critical Essay Sue Monk Kidd has carefully crafted a book rich in symbolism with special emphasis on bees. Each section’s heading features the inner workings of this communal society (Emanuel, Catherine, B. 3). An epigraph at the beginning relating to bees sets the tone for the each chapter. The first chapter epigraph states: The Queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence…

wanted her fathers support more than anything but he was cold, abusive, and stuck in the past, that he wasn’t able to give her anything except for take his anger out on her, when she disobeyed him. Although if someone does not get that support from the other parent, and if someone else is there that is understanding and kind, its amazing to see how much you can start to really rely on them and grow a close relationship. When Lily deals with the loss of her mother and the poor treatment of her father…

Everyone has a secret life that they keep hidden from the rest of the world. Lies are told on a daily basis in order to keep these lives stashed in the dark. In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the bees are the ones that have the most secret life of all. They each have their own specific role to play deep within the hive. It's obvious that the author had meant for some of her characters to portray the roles that these buzzing insects have to dutifully fulfill every duty. Lily and Zach are…

The Journey of Lily in Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees The devastating tragedy of losing a person's mother at an early age can drastically affect that person's life. It can impact the way someone thinks, corresponds with others, and the way someone handles themselves emotionally. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens loses her mother at the early age of four. During Lily's journey she finds comfort and support in the women that she meets. Throughout the novel Lily goes…