The Role of Feminism in 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

Conflict is a key aspect in all pieces of literature. Without it, works would be very boring, predictable and would not be able to draw the reader in. There is usually one main conflict the protagonist faces, whether it is against an evil villain or the evil inside their own self. In the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the courageous protagonist, Lily, struggles with an internal conflict with the guilt of possibly being the cause of her mother's death and the absence of knowledge about her mother. Following a clue left by her mother, Lily runs away from home and meets the "calendar sisters" in Tiburon, SC. There, she is finally able to discover who her mother actually was and learn the truth behind her mother's death: that Lily had accidentally shot her. Upon uncovering the whole truth, Lily is finally able to begin to forgive herself and shrug off the heavy guilt that had burdened her for years. Through Lily's struggle to figure out who her mother was and accept what happened to her, Sue Monk Kidd wishes to communicate that even if something

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.

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.”

Sue Monk Kidd has introduced very complex, yet simple characters that can be easily related to by many readers of the novel. Rosaleen has a tough exterior, but truly cares for Lily Owens, as T.Ray Owens is unpleasant, and considered to be abusive toward Lily. Further on, we have Zachary Taylor, a handsome, charismatic football player while working for August in her honey house develops feelings for Lily, as there’s June Boatright with a heart of gold, yet is distrusting in regards to Lily at first. These character are just a few of the many that entail the plot, and make them relatable. Although, like I said Sue Monk Kidd has developed many character that we can relate to, I believe I relate to Lily Owens the most in “The Secret Life of Bees.”

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 novel The Secret Life of Bees (2001), Sue Kidd creates a character, Terrence Ray Owens, that serves as the epitome of internal conflict. Kidd is able to show Terrence’s internal conflict through through a flashback from Lily’s friend August, and a series of violent actions inflicted on his daughter Lily. Kidd’s purpose in this novel is to display the ramifications of a broken home dynamic, in order to show how forgiveness to oneself and others is truly the first step to finding happiness.

The Secret Life of Bees is a novel written by Sue Monk Kidd. It is about a girl, named Lily, who goes to another town to seek answers about her mother. In the novel Lily starts maturing throughout the course of months. Lily has many mother figures who teach her different lessons. August teaches Lily that race doesn’t matter, June teaches Lily about love, and Rosaleen teaches Lily that the truth isn’t always good.

The idea of having a secret life is enough to intrigue almost anyone.  With a title like The Secret Life of Bees, the reader cannot help but wonder what the secret is, and how it plays into the story.  As children, we all read books that talked about an escape to a mystical place that allowed the characters to escape from reality for a while.  In many cases, the reader viewed this as an escape they also desired, but most times could not fully relate to the character’s experiences.  Nonetheless, the setting of the story was intriguing.  Sue Monk Kidd uses setting to influence her characters by setting The Secret Life of Bees in the south, having it take place in the 1960’s, and by creating characters that depend on the setting for their happiness.

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

Family can be defined as individuals who are related by blood, yet it is more so about our ability to care for a person or people and for them to care for us as well. This same theme is demonstrated by many literary texts throughout history. One, exemplary novel is The Secret Life of Bees. Within the book, there are many exchanges between characters that stresses the importance of family and how there are no limits when it comes to choosing who you consider family and who you do not consider family. The relationships that structure the storyline prove this life lesson to be true. The story follows the main character, Lily. Lily has experienced many trials in her early years of life. While these trials do not define Lily, they certainly

In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, “The Secret Life of Bees,” about a troubled girl named Lily, the motif of curiosity is developed as an underlying characteristic of Lily and the novel. The development of curiosity within Lily is demonstrated more efficiently in the novel by Sue Monk Kidd than the movie. The motif of curiosity evolves as Lily matures in the novel, while in the movie the meaning of her curiosity is lost. By incorporating the feature of curiosity within Lily throughout the entire novel gives the it a more meaningful impression. The movie lacks the value that the novel possess due to the absence of curiosity.

The essence of the relationship between a mother and child is a mutual ascendency in regards to identity. Children are subject to an instinctive longing for a mother. It is the mother’s influence that guides them in their process of discovering all the realities the world posses and in that processing discerning their identity. Conversely when a woman becomes a mother the presence of her child causes her to evaluate and develop her identity under the pretense of motherhood. Paula Nicolson touches on the value of both these scenarios in her article “Motherhood and Women’s Lives” where she expresses how the mother child relationship gives the pretense for both parties to find their authentic identities (Nicolson). Sue Monk Kidd evaluates the

Emanuel agrees in her paper “The archetypal mother: the Black Madonna in Sue Monk Kidd 's The Secret Life of Bees” saying that “[Kidd] speaks at length about a woman’s plight in both conventional society,”(Catherine B. Emanuel). August understands this progress of injustice. While talking to Lily about her life, August confesses that she did love a man. “I loved him enough. I just loved my freedom more”(146). This shows that August had to decide whether she wanted to have her freedom or to be married. Kidd writing about a black woman that choose a career over the traditional lifestyle of a women reinforce the notice that anyone can improve and innovate the world as much as white man. In the novel, August shows Lily that a woman can do anything a man can do by breaking from conventional ideas that a women can live a successful life without a man is normal. Laurie Grobman agreed in her essay in “Teaching Cross-Racial Texts: Cultural Theft in ‘The Secret Life of Bees” by saying that “August fits Levy’s description of the ‘model of female creativity, the repository of women 's history and the provider of mother enduring care,”(21). August is a role model to encourage women to break the mold of what a woman is supposed to be.