Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

(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”

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 this journal I evaluate why lily decided to leave, question why T-ray is so abusive to Lily and predict where lily where go next. What I have learned from this book is that you don’t need to keep your problems a secret, just tell someone and they will help

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.

Haunted by the her own memories, Lily Owens finds comfort in the humming of the bees. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd writes about the life of young girl whose spontaneous decisions lead her to her mother’s past. Lily’s life has revolved around the lack of a mother. Her father, T. Ray, is a harsh and unloving peach farmer who punishes Lily unreasonably and does not fulfil his father like position. Lily’s adventure begins after catching a few bees in a jar. She empathizes with them as they are stuck and alone, something she understands all too well. On the day of her birthday, Lily and her negro nanny, Rosaleen, go out into town to register for voting. Rosaleen and Lily are on their way when a group of white men begin to harass Rosaleen and degrade her for being a negro. Rosaleen pours her spit jug on the shoes of the man and is given no mercy when she is beaten. With Rosaleen ending up in jail, Lily returns to the comfort of the bees once again. As she opens the jar and watches the bees escape, Lily follows suit and flees from home. She breaks Rosaleen out of the hospital and they hitchhike their way to Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily believes that her mother, Deborah, had once visited Tiburon and where she had obtained a picture of a Black Madonna. Lily has spent her whole life looking for new information and connections between herself and her mother. With luck and fate on her side, Lily finds the home of the Boatwright sisters, the creators of the Black

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.

Lily finds out that August has known who her mother was, and that Lily was her daughter. Lily was very hurt by this but August knew she was not “ready to know about her. [August] didn’t want to risk [Lily] running away again. [August] wanted [Lily] to have a chance to get [herself] on solid ground”(236). When August gives Lily time and space to come to terms with her mother leaving her with T-Ray, she moves on in a way. She understands that her mom must have had a reason for leaving her. Lily also gets closure when August tells her the full story of her mother being at the Boatwright Household. August explains to Lily that she left T-Ray and Lily because she was depressed, and just not herself. August tells Lily “after she’d been here three months and was feeling a little better, [Deborah] started talking about how much she missed you. Finally she went back to Sylvan to get you”(254). Knowing that her mom was coming back to get her, allowed for Lily to get rid of some of the hate that she had for her mom. Now Lily knew that her Mom did love her, and did not want to leave her alone with T-Ray. Although Lily gets rid of some of the hate for her mom, she still had some of it. She still hates her for not bringing her along with her to the Boatwright’s in the first place, and for leaving her with T-Ray for those couple of months. August explains to Lily that her mom had made a mistake

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.

Secret Life of Bees Essay Growing up changes you in more ways than you realize. It can be a good change like new privileges. It could be bad things like more responsibility. In the book The Secret Life of Bees all changes are experienced.

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.

Throughout her fourteen years of living with surly T-Ray in the little house next to the peach groves, Lily feels numerable emotions during the unfair treatments and hardships she endured from her father. Lily does not feel worthy or meaningful at her slovenly home with T-Ray.

Many people in their life will feel compassionate towards another person or character in a novel because of their personality, behaviors and actions. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the protagonist, Lily, has a father referred to as T. Ray. In the beginning of the book, typical readers may label T. Ray as the antagonist because he is described as an abusive, cold hearted character. After reading and learning more about his past, T. Ray can eventually be considered a sympathetic character. With the death of his wife and the constant reminder of her every time he looks at his daughter, T-Ray has reasons for being portrayed as a cruel and resentful person.

Sue Monk Kidd the gives the reader a compassionate perspective of Lily’s parents in “The Secret Life of Bees” with the use of metaphors, symbolism, and dialogue, that exhibits the only reason behind Deborah’s and Ray’s actions was either endearment, self-protection, or resentment. Deborah’s and Terrence’s dysfunctional marriage only began because of Deborah’s pregnancy. The reader will sympathize with Deborah’s depression and the repercussions on herself and Lily. Terrence’s reaction to Deborah’s past will show his soft side. All-embracing, Kidd uses these situations to create sympathy for Lily’s parents.

Not to long ago I read a book called the Secret Life of Bees and it has some parallels with some events that take place during the Jim Crow period of American history (1960’s) and what is happening today in world. Sue Monk Kidd placed the Secret life of Bees in the 1960’s since that was the ending of the Jim Crow era of America. For those who don’t know what the Jim Crow period was it was the time not long after the Civil War ended and the Blacks had their freedom til the Civil Rights Act was passed. This is important to the story line since The Secret Life of Bees take place after the Civil Rights Act was passed. Why is Jim Crow important to the story? One of the main characters Rosaleen early in the story is going to sign up to vote since

The story The Secret Life of Bees includes many conflicts and disagreements between the characters. A few of the conflicts in the story can be spotted easily, but others are not so easily understood. The most obvious conflict occurs at the very beginning of the story which involves T. Ray and Deborah arguing. Deborah is accidentally shot and killed by her four-year-old daughter Lily.