Secret Life Of Bees Essay

The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, is a bildungsroman novel about an adolescent girl and her maturation throughout her fourteenth summer. The novel takes place in the 1960s while the Civil Rights Act is still fairly new to people. Throughout the novel, protagonist Lily Owens struggles as she tries to find her way through obstacles thrown at her. As Lily experiences different events, good and bad, she matures and grows as an individual. Having grown up around a black woman in this time period, Lily had no bias toward one race or the other. But also having grown up in a primarily white town, she never saw the other side of the bias. As the story progresses, Lily learns that people will have biases against her, which is something

In the novel The Secret life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character Lily uses the symbolism of bees to convey her transition from a prejudiced mindset against African Americans to one of acceptance. This novel shows the different attitudes of people towards African Americans in 1964. Lily goes through the journey of discovering new perspectives and finding that African Americans are not what people portray them to be.

Today I will be talking about the book named “The Secret Life of Bees,” written by Sue Monk Kidd. This book is about a young girl who has to deal with an abusive father and in return she runs away with her black babysitter to a beekeeper she believes may know the answers to her mothers dead. In this blog post I will be talking about the racial part of the book and discussing my opinions. The book mentions the race of the people many times because it is set in 1964, during the time in which many black people had to go through many deterrents.

Sue monk kidd wrote a book called secret life of bees published on november 8, 2001 . The book was about a girl named lily and how she wants to know more about her mom and wants to run from her father T. ray. In the book their is a well developed character named June boatwright. June was going to have a wedding and her fiance left her at the alter. August , sister of June took care of a little girl named Debra Owens during the time of segregation. Since june was born during this dark time I believe that she distrusted every white person that she didn't know because most were racist during this time. Due to the segregation and the distrust she had it was hard for her to trust white people like debras daughter lily and for her to gain confidence to marry again.

The novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd has an important storyline, it teaches about attitudes and ways of coping with things from the past all while keeping the reader hooked and thinking about what will happen next. These qualities won it a People’s Choice Award in the category ‘favorite drama’. Contemporary Literary Criticism said “Honey-sweet but never cloying, this debut features a hive's worth of appealing female characters, an off-beat plot and a lovely style.” (Zaleski). The plot isn’t a standard plot as most books are its twisted and touches on sensitive topics, Kidd constantly brings in new ideas and ways to make the book more arousing.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a book about a girl named Lily and the troubles she faces. The story takes place in the 1960’s and during that time period there was a lot of racism and segregation going on especially in the southern part of the United States. This book does a great job of portraying the conflicts each of the characters go through. The three main conflicts are Man versus Man, Man versus himself, and Man versus society. One of the very first conflicts introduced in the book is man versus man.

In 1964, civil rights were granted to African Americans when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act (20). Even though this was meant to give African Americans equality, racism refused to die in the southern states. Throughout the novel “The Secret Life of Bees,” the idea of racism is questioned, put to the test, and eventually proved to be irrational. The author, Sue Monk Kidd, achieves this through telling the life of Lily Owens and the people around her.

“Creating unique characters is something every fiction author has to focus on because it can make the difference in writing a book that resonates with the audience…” (“5 Tips for”). In this case, in Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, the author implements literary devices, such as, indirect characterization, symbolism, and allusions, in her writing. Moreover, the literary devices applied generate reader’s feelings toward the characters.

The first statement that came to my attention was that “If I were a South Carolina resident, I would be unhappy since the author’s depiction of the state was unflattering.” This is true, Sue Monk Kidd did not persuaded me to visit. However, I doubt that many would be unhappy. The book took place over 50 years ago and numerous conditions have changed. However, heavy racism is alive in the South today, and if residents and readers realized what racism actually is, maybe it would encourage them to change their ways. I wasn’t surprised that our Catholic school assigned us this novel, even though August worships a different religion. The Secret Life of Bees has won numerous awards and is well loved. Even, though it

In The Secret Life of Bees the most prominent theme is racism and prejudice because of the relation it has to the current world issues. The novel displays racism and prejudice very clearly so that the reader can imagine what it must have been like. The year that the novel takes place, 1964, is a major contributor to the validation of the way racism is portrayed. In the South, where the novel takes place, racism is still poignant today, while not as noticeable and less accepted as well as less admitted the reader can see why it would have been a problem back then. One can also see the segregation in society that is obvious to anyone and thoughtlessly accepted. These points provide vital information to understanding of the main characters, Rosaleen.

The Civil Right Act occurred in 1960 which allowed African-Americans more rights. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees many characters challenges and uncover the meaning of accepting taboo ideas. Set in 1964, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees suggests that accepting taboo actions does not necessarily compromises a person’s moral compass and can lead to an awareness and understanding of the world.

In the book The Secret Life of Bees, author Sue Monk Kidd uses the literary devices of theme, theme development and symbolism to make the story complex and interesting. These devices thoroughly advance the story bringing more meaning and room for interpretation. The author describes several themes in the story, allowing the reader to learn from the experiences described by the story. The author also includes hints of symbolism throughout the book, creating depth and dimension by bringing meaning and importance to even the simplistic of things. Finally, the author embraces them development through furthermore elaborating on her strong theme

Books have a way of bringing people together, by showing different points of view. One of the most inspiring books I have read, is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. This contemporary novel of a young girl's journey to discover herself, has the ability to engage readers from many different walks of life. I believe that everyone in my generation should read this novel, as this coming of age story will leave readers with a new outlook on family and how people can change.

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd, many different themes are presented and all have a large impact on the book. Lily Owens, the main character, is determined to find a trace of her mother who she had accidentally shot as a child. Lily throughout the novel, however, discovers that a mother can be more than just a physical being. The theme of mothers in this book is conveyed through understanding, forgiveness, and love. The author uses this theme to reveal Lily’s character and her maturing beliefs.

The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, is a story that follows our narrator, Lily Melissa Owens, who describes events that took place in the summer she turned 14. The story begins in Sylvan, South Carolina, and focuses on Lily as a lonely teenager. Right from the start, we see that she suffers from an unhappy home life, due to struggle within the family and internal struggle within herself. As a young child of 4, Lily lost her mother in an unfortunate accident; during a fight between her parents, she got her hands on a gun and mistakenly shot her mother. The result has left her with a neglectful father, T. Ray, a surrogate mother Rosaleen, and enough guilt to last a lifetime. Furthermore, the rest of the book describes her escape from her father, along with Rosaleen, and her stay at the Boatwright sisters’ house. Throughout the novel, the author displays examples of a variety of literary terms. The four main terms most present are that of foreshadowing, symbolism, theme, and tone.