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The Secret Life Of Bees Lily Owen Quotes

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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

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