Secret Life Of Bees Character Analysis

(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

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.

“‘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.

It’s presumed that this is what T.Ray thinks when Lily says "After my morning. Of capturing bees, I spent the afternoon in the peach stand out on the highway, selling T.Ray's peaches" (Kidd 15). At this point in the novel, T.Ray made Lily work on the highway to sell his peaches for him. He thought that Lily was to do anything he wanted her to do. Yes, Lily is his daughter, but the year this book was based on was 1964, after the child labor law has been passed. Lily should not have had to work for T.Ray because he forced her to. After Lily ran away from T.Ray, she called him to apologize. T.Ray started to yell at her for that. It is evident that he was angry at her for leaving him alone when he said "'I'll tell you what you were. You were a goddamn fool who went looking for trouble and found it. Because of you I can't walk down the street in Sylvan without people staring at me. I've had to stop everything and search for you all over

Every family has parents and maybe some siblings too, it is what makes the family a family. Some kids are adopted and some are not and some like Lily Owens in The Secret Life of Bees got to choose her family. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the theme that appears a lot is how much family means, even if it is chosen.

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

Sue Monk Kidd has introduced very complex, yet simple characters that can be easily related to by many readers of the novel. Rosaleen has a tough exterior, but truly cares for Lily Owens, as T.Ray Owens is unpleasant, and considered to be abusive toward Lily. Further on, we have Zachary Taylor, a handsome, charismatic football player while working for August in her honey house develops feelings for Lily, as there’s June Boatright with a heart of gold, yet is distrusting in regards to Lily at first. These character are just a few of the many that entail the plot, and make them relatable. Although, like I said Sue Monk Kidd has developed many character that we can relate to, I believe I relate to Lily Owens the most in “The Secret Life of Bees.”

“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. ”(p. 41). In Sue Monk Kidd’s fiction book The Secret Life of Bees, Lily’s life is an obvious example of coming of age.

This quote shows that… EXPLANATION. Furthermore, this shows that throughout this book August Boatwright represents the best motherly figure. August exhibits multiple motherly traits such as caring for Lily, being a mentor for Lily, and always accepting Lily for who she is.

Sean Connery stated: “Some age, others mature”. In Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, literary devices such as indirect characterization, symbolism and allusions are displayed. Throught Kidd’s novel, these literary devices help to present to the reader that Lily has undergone changes, developing her into a more mature character over the course of the novel.

Family can be defined as individuals who are related by blood, yet it is more so about our ability to care for a person or people and for them to care for us as well. This same theme is demonstrated by many literary texts throughout history. One, exemplary novel is The Secret Life of Bees. Within the book, there are many exchanges between characters that stresses the importance of family and how there are no limits when it comes to choosing who you consider family and who you do not consider family. The relationships that structure the storyline prove this life lesson to be true. The story follows the main character, Lily. Lily has experienced many trials in her early years of life. While these trials do not define Lily, they certainly

The Secret Life of Bees is a book about a young girl named Lily who lives with her father T.Ray and their housekeeper Rosaleen. The book is set in South Carolina in 1964. Lily is trying to figure out the truth about her mother’s death. While at the same time, she has to deal with her father’s constant abuse. Events from the book help mold Lily into the person she is at the end of the book.

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

Can you imagine accidentally killing your mother, and having to live with that your whole life? The Secret Life of Bees is a book by Sue Monk Kidd. The book is about a girl named Lily losing family and finding friends. Lily gained many friends throughout the story. Although The Secret Life of Bees has lots of loss, it also has lots of joyful and happy events.