The Death Of A Woman

In addition, after Lily’s liberation from T. Ray, another character pushed Lily to make a choice without even saying a word to her and that character was Lily’s mother, Deborah, who was dead and yet she still guided Lily to her next destination. Deborah’s largest contribution to Lily’s life was leaving behind a trail of love for Lily to follow, giving Lily someplace to go when she had no home. Lily immediately knows where to go after leaving her father's trammel, for she finds a picture of Deborah in Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily’s eagerness to learn more about her mother urges her to travel to Tiburon. Lily reveals her desperation on finding out more about her mother’s love towards her when she said, “ Well, think about it. She must have been there some time in her life to have owned this picture. And if she was, a person might remember her, you never know” (Kidd 51). Lily’s voice held a sense of hope as she believed that there was something in

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.

Lily grew up subjected to strange punishments from her father. Since she was raised by T.Ray without her mother around she never got to experience normal childhood things or motherly love, except from Rosaleen. This caused her to feel as though her life was normal because she didn’t know of any other way of life, yet she still feared T.Ray and his punishments

Lily feels alone in this world. She is ostracized at school, treated with an absence of love and lives day to day knowing that she has committed irreversible acts. When she thinks about her mother all of these complications melt away in the warm allure she feels.

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.

Throughout the novel The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the characters are determined to achieve a goal or get some answers in some way. The novel’s main character and narrator is Lily Owens, a fourteen year old girl; the story is set in South Carolina during the summer of 1964. During this summer, Lily searches for answers about her mother’s life. Hardships cause people to show their determination in life because they strive to achieve a specific goal as demonstrated by Lily, T. Ray, and Rosaleen.

Her journey of self growth is largely based on the fact that Lily feels that she has committed a terrible sin that has left her unlovable. Forgiving herself for her own mistakes is the most difficult obstacle Lily has overcome. Despite the great difficulty, the love and support that is given to her, as well as the lesson she had learned in forgiving her mother were essential to Lily’s ultimate forgiveness--“I have forgiven us both, although sometimes in the night my dreams will take me back to the sadness, and I have to wake up and forgive us again.” (Kidd

Lily had to believe she was a person worthy of love and a family. It was this character trait of Lily’s that got her through this

Lily feels guilt for killing her mother at the beginning of the novel. She was always beaten down by T. Ray, getting used to punishment and his scornfulness. She was also very upset that her mother had left her with T. Ray, making her think that her mother never loved her and left because of it. However, as she develops in the story, she changes drastically. When she arrives at the Boatwright’s, she is much like how she was with T. Ray, but as she stays there longer, she starts to gain independence, a stronger self confidence and overall becomes stronger.

In the beginning of the story, Lily was a runaway who firmly believed that she was unlovable, but after many precarious events led her and Rosaleen to the Boatwright Sisters, she was taken by August Boatwright without hesitation. August fed the girl, washed her, kept a roof atop her head, and most importantly, treated the Lily as if she was the elderly woman’s own. And when Lily eventually wanted to know about her mother, August obliged and revealed everything. Following the revelation, Lily broke down and “[August] was like a sponge, absorbing what [Lily] couldn’t hold anymore” (238). Up to this point in the story, Lily has been physically and mentally abused by T. Ray. Also, she felt unlovable, maybe even unfit for love. But with August’s presence and comfort, she was able to learn that she was able to be loved. In that regard, August was being what a mother should be: loving and supportive

Lily and her mother had shared many similar appearance characteristics. When T. Ray had finally found Lily, he felt as if he had found his wife once again. Being constantly reminded that Deborah was no longer alive when T. Ray looked at Lily had caused him to be overprotective of

As readers first start the novel, the main character, and protagonist, Lily Owens is seen as a determined 14-year-old girl who will stop at nothing to find out more about her mother. After getting into a fight with T. Ray, Lily Owens thinks to herself, “That's when it came to me. What if my mother wasn’t leaving true? What if T. Ray made it up to punish me? … But I had such a moment right then, standing in my own ordinary room. I heard a voice say, Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open. In a matter of seconds, I knew exactly what I had to do -leave.” (Kidd 41) This quote gives the readers a sneak peek at how determined Lily truly is. She takes the risk of running away from her abusive father and the house she calls home. Once Lily runs away and breaks Rosaleen out of jail, she comes up with a plan as to how they will escape Sylvan. “‘We’re going to Highway Forty and

Question 1: Choose a character whom you think changed the most in this novel. Why did the character change? What caused this character to change? What motivated this character's decisions/actions?

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

Throughout the novel, Lily, among other characters changed their mindset and altered the story through their character