Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd alludes to the separation of black musical culture from white culture in her novel, The Secret Life of Bees, when comparing Elvis and Fats Domino to Miles Davis. This allusion helps clarify Lily’s provincial views and her limited knowledge of black culture. Although she tries to relate her understanding of music to Zach’s, Lily must realize that they share little in common in that field.

In society today there are still forms of segregation prevalent to the eye. Whether it’s in workplaces, schools, etc. it is still seen today. Of course, sometimes no one means to self- segregate himself or herself, sometimes it may even be subconscious. It is not intended to be mean spirited or subjective to anyone, it simply just happens. Even though people may not realize it within themselves, people still hold on to racist beliefs.

Lily loves her mother and wanted to protect her from T.Ray, but accidentally shot her. Since then, four year old Lily grew up without a mother and with a strong feeling of guilt. Lily feels as if living with guilt is worse than dying.

Jase Gibbons Mr. Knox Pre-Ap ELA. Did you know that authors use literary devices to help develop the theme of a novel? “The Secret Life of Bees” is written by Sue Monk Kidd and it’s about a girl named Lily who runs away from her abusive father to find the truth about her mother. Sue Monk Kidd's use of dialogue, point of view, and conflict in the scene where Lily stood up to T. Ray helped her develop the theme that no matter how mad you are at someone, you can always find ways to forgive.

My novel selection is “The Secret Life of Bees.” The novel was written by Sue Monk Kidd in 1997-2001, near Charleston, South Carolina. I choose this novel due to its nature. The set is in 1964. The Civil Rights Act and segregation were at its peak. The story is of a young white girl named Lily. She lives on a peach orchard with her emotionally detached father. Her mother died when she was four years old. She comes to find love in a series of strong African-American women. One of the first influential women to love her was her caretaker. Her name was Rosaleen and she had worked the fields for her father. “Rosaleen had worked for us since my mother died. My daddy- who I called T. Ray because “Daddy” never fit him- had pulled her out of the peach orchard, where she’d worked as one of his pickers.” (print) Lily then finds the Boatright sisters. She finds the Boatright sisters after raveling to find the “Black Mary” she found on a photograph in her mother’s belongings. Lily felt locating the lady in the photograph would solve the mysteries

“God deals us all different hands. How we play `em is up to us.” This is a quote from Jeanette Walls’ True-Life Novel Half Broke Horses. It displays a life lesson of Adam Casey to his daughter Lily. The quote originates from the time after their house gets washed away by a flood.

n the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily a 14 year old girl is abused by her father and runs away. Throughout Lily's life she was sheltered from blacks and always thought of them as a lower class in society and her in a higher class because of her skin color. As a result she has limited respect for blacks. There are many motifs in this book that change the mindset of Lily, one of which is the Virgin Mary. The symbol the Virgin Mary is a huge impact on Lily's growth and development.

If August didn’t provide Lily with a nurturing and caring environment, she most likely would not have been able to deal with her trauma. August was there for Lily and understood her. This shows how August taught Lily how to be loved. Although August has had the biggest impact on Lily’s growth and development, some might think Rosaleen was the most impactful figure for her. “She lived alone in a little house tucked back in the woods, not far from us, and came every day to cook, clean, and be my stand-in mother.”

In the 1960s, America struggled with segregation between whites and blacks. People of darker skin tones were separated from those who had lighter tones. There were separate bathrooms, restaurants, and stores that segregated the two races. Black people were stripped of common privileges because of the way they appeared, such as voting and seating areas on public transportation vehicles. It became a lifestyle to most people as it was rare anyone would integrate with the other race. If integration did occur, it was frowned upon by the community. Examples of integration occur in the two novels The Color of Water by James McBride and The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd. Each book shares its own story of integration during the

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.

In addition to the Black Mary, Rosaleen showers Lily with love and support. Rosaleen treats Lily like she is her own daughter. Rosaleen accepts the way Lily is and has faith in her. "'Here you go. Happy Birthday" (28). Rosaleen cares about Lily and knows when something is important to her, like her Birthday. Lily never gets anything from T-Ray on her Birthday, but Rosaleen cares so much about her that she still gets Lily something. Rosaleen can tell when Lily is in pain or is sad like most mothers can. "'Well why don't we sit down on the side of the road awhile?'" (28). Rosaleen acknowledges the fact that Lily feels upset, and is comfortable expressing the need to rest and relax. Since Lily has known Rosaleen a long time she is comfortable expressing herself around Rosaleen and knows that Rosaleen will listen to her problems and insecurities. "'I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason'" (11). Rosaleen and Lily have a connection that most mothers and daughters have. They care

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

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 of racism through the characters in her book, The Secret Life of Bees and shows that even during that time period, some unique people, were able to see beyond the heavy curtain of racism that separated people from each

Sue Monk Kidd is a writer from Southern Georgia. She is best known for her most influential piece of writing, The Secret Life of Bees, which has found its way into many classrooms across the country. Many of her fiction novels have tackled controversial and well known issues and themes of the South over the course of history.

Throughout the novel, Lily is able to depend only on herself and her own strength to get through tough times. When she was only eight years old, her family was hit by a flash flood that threatened their home. Her father