Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

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

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.

The Secret Life of Bees is a tale in which the motherless main character, Lily, is trying to find the love that she needs and her family which she has yet to find. It is a story that explains the true meaning of what family is and the different types of love. Not only has Sue Monk Kidd successfully crafted a wondrous story with twists and turns, she has also used many different types of literary devices. Literary devices help a book seem more likable. These devices can also make a book into a page-turner.

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.

First of all, The Secret Life of Bees is a 1960’s novel based on a child named Lily, who was bossed around and treated unfairly by her dad T-Ray, which he himself had a black maid named Rosaleen working for him since before Lily was born. Lily and Rosaleen had a very special relationship that had loyalty, trust,

In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a young girl named Lily struggles with growing up with only a harsh father and a housemaid while trying to find her own place in the world. At the age of four, Lily accidentally shoots her mother while trying to help her in a fight against Lily’s dad. Ever since that day, Lily has a difficult time trying to be a lady and trying to cope with her somewhat abusive father. One day, when Lily is fourteen, the housemaid Rosaleen is sent to jail for pouring dip spit on white men’s shoes but later gets assaulted by the men and is taken to the hospital where Lily goes to sneak her out. In order to help incorporate the story’s title into the story, the author has written epigraphs, that are about bees, for every chapter in the book. Chapter two’s epigraph says “ On leaving the old nest, the swarm normally flies only a few metres and settles. Scout bees look for a suitable place to start the new colony. Eventually, one location wins favor and the whole swarm takes to the air”(34). This epigraph parallels the story because of the similarities in how bees move on and look for somewhere to start their new lives and how Lily and Rosaleen try to start their new

"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.”

In the passage from the award winning novel Secret Life of Bees, portrays Lily sneaking out of the house to be closer to her dead mother, which paints a picture of how much Lily wants to develop the bond with her late mother. To accomplish this task the author, Sue Monk Kidd, integrates numerous forms of figurative language such as symbolism , imagery, and comparisons using similes and metaphors to convey how much Lily desires to find a connection with her dead mother.

The novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is centered around the main character, Lily, and her quest to find a mother like figure. Lily runs away from home in order to escape for former life of oppression, and to try and find herself. She met and was taken in by the Boatwright sisters who introduced her to a whole new world. Symbolism plays a major part in the book and is used by the author to uncover parts of the plot that were not clearly stated. The characters Rosaleen, Lily, and May all change a great deal throughout the course of the book and these changes are shown through the presence of water. The author repeatedly uses the symbol water to show a clense or renewal of characters which marks the beginning of the character’s evolution.

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.

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.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd describes the bond between blacks and whites during the 1960. The story begins at South Caroline in 1964. During the time, white people discriminate black people. Lily who is the white girl live with her father T. Ray. When she was 4, she accidentally killed her mother.

This concept leads Lily to believe that the Virgin Mary is in many ways her mother, even though she is a mother to thousands of other people as well (Emanuel 41). Lily receives support and love from August and the community like the bees, though it is a secret to the rest of the world. The bees act as pathfinders for Lily as she learns more about herself, along with Zach

In The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd creates a story in the 1960s where the protagonist Lily encounters racism and other inequalities typical of that time in the south. The beginning of the 1960s many americans believed they were standing at the dawn of a golden age little did many know by the end of the 1960s it seemed as though the nation was falling apart.

For our summer reading project, we read a novel by Sue Monk Kidd titled, The Secret Life of Bees. Throughout the book, we learn about a young teen girl named Lily and her experiences of trying to escape an abusive father and free her nanny, Rosaleen. The author uses many clues to establish the setting and time period of the novel, which happened to be in the early 60's. The story starts in a farm home where Lily's dad has Rosaleen take care of Lily during the day as her nanny. When the Jim Crow Laws were in place, it was common to have an African American nanny in the household to help with the children and chores. Another prime example is when Rosaleen decides to go cast her vote which hasn't been allowed to her before, and when she does she is arrested for disrespecting white males. The author establishes the time period by drawing attention to the Civil Rights Acts and showing a huge contrast between how African Americans were treated versus whites and the conflicts between race rights in this time period. The author expresses this with officers and unfamiliar characters showing disrespect toward Rosaleen.