The Bees: A Narrative Fiction

Lily’s housekeeper Rosaline was a big part in Lily’s growth throughout the her adolescent years. When T. Ray found Lily outside in the garden with her shirt unbuttoned he made her kneel in a pile of Martha White Grits, when she did this her knees got incredibly welted and bruised. Once Rosaleen had seen what he had done she immediately brought it to Lily’s attention how bad she was being treated by T. Ray, “‘Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you,’” she said (Kidd 25). If not for Rosaline, she probably would have never even been capable of leaving her home at the peach farm in the first place and in turn she probably would have never found the Boatwright sisters in Tiburon, South Carolina (37). If this would not have happened Lily would have been stuck in her miserable life with T. Ray, forever having to kneel in the sharp Martha White Grits, having constantly wilted knees, and being neglected from the love all people need and deserve to feel throughout their

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

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

Through out the book I have found numerous amount shocking events on why Lily left. Some Reasons why Lily left was because she wanted to know if her mom actually left her when Lily was just young girl. When Lily was little she had over heard her mom and T-Ray fighting one day in the hallway. Right when Lily looked in the hallway she saw a gun on the floor and she decided to pick it up; right when Lily picked it up she heard a loud bang

This passage is important to the novel as a whole, because it is what makes Lily realize that she is not alone, and the she can be strong herself. All of her life Lily had faced the struggle of loneliness. Her mother had died, and her father treated her horribly. This held her back, and made her feel vulnerable and confused. When she ran away and got to the Boatwright’s house though, she began to feel less lonely and learned what it felt like to be loved. However, she did not lose that feeling of being weak and on the outside until August explained to her in this passage that Our Lady, the blessed mother is not just a statue, but something that lives in a person. August

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.

The first of Lily’s individual weaknesses that lead to her demise is stubbornness; it plays a large role in why Palmer has such a difficult time dealing with Lily. On a number of occasions through the correspondence, Lily attempts to treat Palmer as though the two of them are close, intimate friends. Lily even goes as far as saying to Palmer, “I hope you stay for years, with me” (Marks 113). If this is not pressure enough, Lily goes on to guilt Palmer by proclaiming, “You cannot leave me alone in this merciless world” (Marks 113). When faced with these remarks, she needed to address Lily’s outlook on their relationship to make sure Lily understood that their interaction had to remain professional.

Apologizing and forgiving her Mother. “ She had rubbed her nose against mine and poured light on my face” ( Kidd 275). Lily thinks this as she looked at this picture of her in her mother. She finally realizes that she wasn't some item that her mom left, but something she truly did love. Therefore showing that Lily has taken this resentment of her mother and forgave her making this a pivotal moment for

This attitude is probably the most remarkable thing about Lily. Lily lived during the great depression, however, this is only one of many environmental challenges she has to cope with. Another big setback in Lily´s life was the suicide of her sister Helen. Helen was pregnant by Mr. Wonderful, a man who promised Helen a bright future as an actress. Being pregnant without a husband was a sin at this time.

Lily used to kneel on grits, get beaten, and stand there while T. Ray yelled in her face. This was not a healthy lifestyle, and Lily has a bright future ahead of her. T. Ray was holding her back by not letting her read and write, making her work on peach farm, and not giving her any love or knowledge about her mother, which is what she longs for the most. Lily decides that the only way she will find out about her mom, have any type of bright future, and be loved, is if she gets away from the problem. Lily is happy, loved, and destined for a bright future at the Boatwright house, without T. Ray.

Lily gets mad at David when he tries to help her rake the leaves. " 'I wish you'd leave!' She was panting. Involuntarily, I took a step back from her. She was clearly on the edge of hysteria" (Werlin 59).

In contrast to her life with her father Lily received impeccable love from the Boatwright sisters. The

Her father is described as a neutral figure and her memory of him is hazy at best. This lack of a father figure led to Lily’s attitude towards men. Because of this Lily always denies herself suitable marriages because she always feels she can do better. Lily is conflicted between the man she loves and the man with money. She loves Seldon but she deems him too poor for her perfect marriage. After much thought, Lily decides to marry Peter Gryce who is exceedingly wealthy but is too late as he is already engaged at the time of her decision. Lily cannot decide between love and money both of which are important aspects of her life. She is unwilling to compromise between the two which eventually leads to her downfall. Lily needs to marry a man with wealth and a stable status in high New York society because she needs a source of income to supplement her own unstable wealth.

O broken lily! how shall one rightly treat of her loveliness, her gentleness and the awful pathos of her fate? Who shall dare to hint that she was

She began to cry silently for the wickedness of the world when she red the words Look out at what used to be your roses. She became enraged, she looked outside and the roses had been torn up with the dirt and roots thrown across the yard. She stayed in her house for the next day bathing in the rage that has been building up.