Recipe For Burning Bees

“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.

"New beekeepers are told that the way to find the elusive queen is by first locating her circle of attendants." (57) This quote is at the beginning of chapter three and not only foreshadows many things to come, but within the quote, two of the novel’s main metaphors are mentioned, bees and the queen, which is referring to society and a mother figure. Although this quote is largely interpreted as a metaphor for Lily looking for a new queen or mother figure, and perhaps August being that mother, I believe that it has another meaning as well. I believe that the Black Madonna also serves as a “queen” and mother figure to all the women in “The Secret Life of Bees.”

The Salt Lake Bees are a Triple A, minor league baseball team that play in the Pacific Coast League(PCL), and are based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They started off as the Portland Beavers in 1903, playing at Vaughn Park. Following their 1993 season, the Bees moved to the beautiful Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City, Utah, forming the Salt Lake Buzz. Smith’s Ballpark opened in 1994, and is one of the largest baseball stadiums in all of Minor League Baseball, seating 15,411 fans. On October 27, 2005, the Buzz transformed into the Salt Lake Bees, and resulted in a change in their major league affiliation, going from the Minnesota Twins to the Los Angeles Angels.

Setting of Novel: The Secret Life of Bees took place in the 1960s in Sylvan, South Carolina

One day, Lily and her younger sister Milly went to the carnival and on the way they passed by the zoo. This reminded Lily about how much Milly loved penguins.

Written by Sue Monk Kidd the novel "The Secret Life of Bees" traces the life of a 14 year old girl searching for love and care. The story begins in a peach farm in Sylvan, South Carolina but travels toward and ends in Tiburon, South Carolina. The city of Tiburon unleashes many truths that lily has wondered throughout her life. The town brings her what she has been longing for since she was a child.

In life, relatively anything can happen for a reason. Whether it occurs upon our own actions or not, instances may arise for a new change. Within the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, our main protagonist, Lily, is tested by making a life-changing decision to either return to her father, T. Ray’s captivity, or stay with the Boatwright sisters, whom she befriended on her runaway adventure. Even through tough times Lily has endured with T. Ray, when it was time for her to decide who should receive custody of her, she was still hesitant, despite knowing what her circumstances may be if she were to choose T. Ray. Even though T. Ray is Lily’s biological father, unfortunately, is not up to par to provide her with the necessities that this fourteen year-old girl needs. I strongly believe that Lily should live with the Boatwright sisters, due to many factors they can provide that makes Lily a better person.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a novel that is narrated by the main character, Lily Owens. The novel begins with Lily being at home with her dad T-Ray. She doesn’t have a motherly since she shot her mom when her evil dad was abusing her. After having troubles with the law, she runs away from her city with her African American nanny, Rosaline. Her and Rosaline hitch-hiked to a South Carolina town, known as Tiburon. There they meet two sisters that would change their lives forever. As the reader starts every chapter, they will realize that every chapter starts out with an epigraph, which foretells the theme of every chapter. Every epigraph involves bees, which the author uses as a comparison tool for humans and their interactions with their surroundings.

The secret of bees, my opinions were questioned more than once. Several of the statements I completely agreed with, while others I disagreed strongly.

Literature is a piece of work through which author expresses his or her unique thoughts; one such literature is The Secret Life of Bees(TSLB). There are many things which makes TSLB a work of literary merit, for example the novel raises social concerns such as racism and it also deals with basic universal truths. TSLB is a story of a girl named Lily Owens who has grown up with the guilt of killing her own mother, Deborah. Deborah died when Lily was very young, so Lily does not know exactly what happened. Contrary to her mother, Lily’s father is portrayed as very strict and abusive. After her mother died, Lily grew up with her father and a “black” housekeeper named Rosaleen. Soon after the passage of Civil Rights Act in 1964, Rosaleen went to vote but was harassed by some racists. Ironically, she was sent to jail even though it was not her fault. After much abuse by her father, Lily decides to leave her house and go to Tiburon SC, which is loosely associated with her mother. She somehow manages to escape

Eighth to ninth grade is a big transition no matter where you go. Grades mean more, sports get more intense, and everyone gets more dramatic. But, the transition to high school also comes with a new level of maturity, and that should be reflected in the reading choices. I think The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a book that everyone should read at some point but there are some mature points that might not be the best for rising ninth graders. For one, the suicide committed by May could trigger some kids depending on their medical and personal backgrounds. Also 14 year olds reading about suicide may not be the best choice at any point. No matter what the age, maturity has to grow as the person grows, and going from middle school to

In the 1960s United States started some problems. They treated color people different from whites. In the book “The Secret Life of Bees” the author talked about the civil right which is related to Jim Crow that happen in the 1960s.

The book I read was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It takes place in 1964 and is about this 14 year old girl named Lily Owens. It tells the story about her childhood and her mothers death, also how her dad had changed after her mother left. She goes on quite a journey with Rosaleen, one of her dads pickers for his peach farm, to Tiburon, South Carolina. She decided to go to Tiburon because it was written on the back of a picture that once belonged to Lily’s mother. They go to the Boatwright sisters home and the sisters take them in and care for them as their own. Lily later finds out that her mother had also stayed there and finds the truth about her mothers death.

The Secret Life of Bees begins in the town of Sylvan, South Carolina and tells the story of 14-year-old Lily Melissa Owens. She lives on a peach orchard with her neglectful and abusive father, T. Ray. They have Black maid named Rosaleen who is a companion and caretaker of Lily. The book opens with Lily's discovery of bees in her bedroom and the story of how she killed her mother. The eve before her birthday Lily sneaks out into the peach orchard to visit the box of her mother’s belongings which is buried there however before she can hide them T. Ray finds her and punishes her. The next day Rosaleen and Lily head into town where Rosaleen is arrested for pouring her bottle of tobacco spit on three white men. Lily breaks her out of prison and they begin hitchhiking toward Tiburon, SC, a town Lily had seen on the back of a picture of a black Virgin Mary which her mom had owned. They hitch a ride to Tiburon and once there, they buy lunch at a general store, and Lily sees a picture of the same Virgin Mary on a jar of honey. She asks the store owner where it came from and he gives her directions to the Boatwright house. They then meet the makers of the honey: August, May and June Boatwright, who are all black. Lily makes up a wild story about being recently orphaned. The sisters welcome Rosaleen and Lily into their home. They are then introduced to beekeeping and the Boatwright’s way of life. Lily learns more about the Black Madonna honey that the sisters make. She begins working

Roaring screams, flashing lights and the buzz of the bees had died down as dusk fell, just like the troopers did. The calming humble hum of the bus’s wheels had sunk the troopers deeper down into their soft trenches and into their slumber as they had finally found peace within the night.