In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character, Lily Owens, lives at home with her father, T-Ray, and a field worker, Rosaleen, that is brought in the house after her mother Deborah dies. Rosaleen takes Lily to town with her to vote when she gets arrested and is put in the hospital for mistreating white people. Lily breaks Rosaleen out of the hospital and the two of them run away. The two of them end up in Tiburon, South Carolina, and meet the three lovely Boatwright women, known for beekeeping. The oldest sister, August keeps control of the family, and invites Lily and Rosaleen to stay with them. Throughout their stay, August gives Lily support, teaches her important, life lessons, and gives her opportunities to …show more content…
The second August sees Lily, she knows that she is the daughter of Deborah Owens, who August used to raise and work in her home as a child. Lily opens up to August, and tells her the story of how she accidently killed her mother. Lily goes on to explain why she is unlovable but August reassures her that her mother’s death is a “terrible thing…to live with. But [she is] not unlovable. Even if [she] did accidently kill her, [she is] still the most dear, most lovable girl”(242) that August knows. August understands Lily is going through a lot with the death of her mother, and from running away from home. August makes sure that Lily knows she is not unlovable because in fact everyone around her loves her. More support from August comes when Lily and August have a conversation about Lily’s mom. Lily is very upset with how the conversation went so “August was giving [Lily] time for now, time to be by the river and [to] do what [she] had to do”(279). August understands Lily needs time and space to grieve, just like she did when May passed away. She gives Lily the time and space because she knows what she is going through, with all the emotions and feeling of blame. The final act of …show more content…
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
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is about a troubled girl named Lily and her journey to leave her abusive father and reconnect with her dead mother. Further in her journey she meets the Boatwright sisters, May, June, and August. Sue Monk Kidd utilizes the literary devices of foreshadowing and imagery to discuss how peace cannot be found without communication. In The Secret Life of Bees, when Lily and her nanny Rosaleen finally arrive at the Boatwright house, Lily fears that the Boatwright sisters would kick them out because of Lily and Rosaleen’s situation with the police and her father T. Ray, so Lily makes up a lie and tells the sisters that she was traveling to her aunt’s house since her parents died instead of telling them the truth.
We can't have you living on the side of the road, “said August” (Monk Kidd 109). This proves that August is a good mother figure to her because she cares where she is and doesn't want her sleeping on the side of a road somewhere. In conclusion, this shows how August also has a big impact on Lily’s life by convincing her dad T-Ray to let her stay with them at the house and being a mother figure to
When Lily finally finds the courage to run away, she stays with three black sisters named August, June, and May Boatright. These women teach her the value of family, love, and trust with their sisterly ways. Lily and August regularly have heart to heart conversations about her family, community, and other subjects that Lily is surprised to learn that August cared about. August tells Lily that she can talk to her about anything (122). Lily settled in and became apart of their little family. Lily becomes, smart, cultured, and gainscourage. This is seen when T. Ray finds her months after she ran away. Lily waves off the convoy of August and Rosaleen, and alone reasoned with T. Ray (296). She is longer afraid of him and hasbecome a mature lady. In conclusion, Lily Owens' character has changed the most in Sue Monk Kidd's novel, The Secret Life of
The devastating tragedy of losing a person's mother at an early age can drastically affect that person's life. It can impact the way someone thinks, corresponds with others, and the way someone handles themselves emotionally. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens loses her mother at the early age of four. During Lily's journey she finds comfort and support in the women that she meets. Throughout the novel Lily goes through many changes because of the impact of the motherly figures of the Black Mary, Rosaleen, and the Calendar Sisters.
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.
August’s role as a mother and teacher also majorly impacts Lily
This quote relates to lily because she lost her mother but the love for her from many other mother figures never ended. Lily always thought that she was never loved because of her cruel father but she had so many people with her like rosaline she was lily's first mother figure, she took care of her by showing love to her when her father was mean to her. The Other mother figures are august and may, june was not actually a mother figure for lily but instead she resembled lily in a way that made lily realize how she was, like when june tried to hide her feelings about neil, lily does the same for the black marry. August was a great mother figure because she gave time to lily to open up and tell the truth even though she knows that lily is
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
Not only is August caring and a good mentor, but she is also very accepting of Lily for who she is. Since the beginning of the book, August has always been an inviting and accepting character. August meet Lily when she showed up at her house, instead of turning her away August allow Lily to stay with them. “Well, you can stay here till you figure out what to do. We can’t have you living on the side of the road.”( Kidd ) August was just told that Lily and Rosaleen had run away from home. August welcomes them into her home and allows them to stay with her. As the book goes on many lies about Lily’s past are told. August knows that Lily is lying but never presses. When it finally comes time for the truth to be told, August never yelled, she just listened. When Lily is telling August about all of the lies she
The Secret Life of Bees delineates an inspirational story in which the community, friendship and faith guide the human spirit to overcome anything. The story follows Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl who desperately wants to discover the cause of her mothers death. Her father T. Ray gives her no answers, which leads their maid, Rosaleen, to act as her guardian. Together, Lily and Rosaleen run away to Tiburon, South Carolina and find a welcoming community. It is in Tiburon that Lily learns many life lessons, including many about herself. In her novel The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd explores a theme of spiritual growth through Lily's search for home as well as a maternal figure.
Lily Melissa Owens, also known as Lily is the protagonist in the book The Secret Life of Bees. She lives in 1964 which is in also know and is turning 14. I feel sympathy for her because she has lost her mother when she was about 4 years old and her father, isn’t a nice person. He is mean and sets harsh rules for her and always tells her that her mother died because of her. On the other hand, Rosaleen, a black woman who worked at the peach farm which Lily’s father owned is like Lily’s mother.
Some reasons that lily started to view her mom differently was because she heard that her mother only married T Ray because she was pregnant and she thought she was “unwanted.” Lily’s mom ended up leaving T Ray after a while of being married, but when she left him behind, she left lily behind too, which made lily feel unwanted and that her mother didn't love her. For example, In the book, lily says, “It was easy for her to leave me, because she never wanted me in the first place.” (Kidd, ch.12) Lily is feeling many things right now about the situation she is going through, including, neglect, unhappiness, anger, betrayal, and surprise. This is making lily feel like her mother left her behind because she didn't want and love her anymore. Also, this is very devastating for Lily because it shatters the image she had built up of her mother and her devotion to her daughter. Her whole life, she was living while thinking her mother loved her and cared for her when it turned out
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.
This is ridiculous” (Kidd 169). June held a grudge against Lily on account of August working for Lily’s mother. June didn’t want to accept Lily, owing to the fact that she knew Lily wasn’t telling the
Lily comes to know three incredible women called the Boatwrights. Their names are August, June, and May. Lily became closest to August although she was close to May and June, also. Lily felt as though August had a comforting and consoling way about her. August once told Lily “Actually, you can be bad at something...but if you love doing it, that will be enough.” (Kidd 111). Her motivational life advice helped to guide Lily. Furthermore, August had to be the one to tell Lily that they had lost May; May had killed herself. Lily did not take the news so well. Lily claimed she had started to “shiver…[she] could feel the teeth in [her] mout, crashing against each other.” (Kidd 193).