The Secret Life Of Bees Resilience Analysis

Lily shows her non-racist side in the very beginning of the book, after Rosaleen has been put in jail for spitting on a very racist white man’s shoe. She willingly sneaks into jail and attempts to free Rosaleen, but gets sent home with the racist and mean father, T. Ray. She once again tries to free Rosaleen, and this time sneaks into a hospital to free her. Lily is successful this time, and runs away with Rosaleen.

Lily starts to feel that she has developed a bond with the Boatwright sisters. Lily does not have a good relationship with her father. He makes her feel unwanted and abuses her verbally and physically. Lily’s father comes to the Boatwright’s residence and demands that Lily returns home with him but she refuses. The sisters inform the father that Lily can stay with them and they pledge to take good care of her, “ I still remember telling myself that when he drove away that day he wasn’t saying good riddance; he was saying, Oh, Lily, you’re better off in that house of coloured women. You never would have flowered with me like you will with them” (Kidd 299-300). Lily came to the realization that her father was not fit to provide her with the love and nurturing that she deserved. The sisters provided her with a loving environment where she feels protected. Also, the Boatwright sisters, especially August, are strong female role models. Lily will model her ideals, values and morals after the Boatwright

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.

“There is nothing perfect,’ August said from the doorway. ‘There is only life” (Kidd 256). This quote from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd explains Lily Owens life, a young girl with an unloving father and a mother who abandoned her and was later shot and killed by her own daughter, Lily. Lily has a hard time finding her place in the world and understanding why her life is the way it is. She decides it is time for her to take charge of her own life. She finds herself in Tiburon, South Carolina with her nanny Rosaleen and three black women, August, June and May who unravel the story to her mother’s past. Lily’s story can be seen in different layers, the most significant layers are the religious, thematic and symbolic layers. These three layers are essential when trying to gain understanding of The Secret Life of Bees.

“‘People can start out one way, and by the time life gets through with them they end up completely different’” (Kidd 293). This quote from August Boatwright perfectly encompasses what happens to Lily during The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. All throughout the novel, the increased maturity of Lily’s character is very noticeable. At the beginning of the book, Lily, a 14-year-old white girl who is living in the South in the 1960’s, accepts segregation without questioning it. By the end, her perspective on life and others changes to reflect a more sophisticated woman. Through characterization, Lily matures as a person because she learns how to face conflicts as an adult and treat people in a grown-up way.

In addition to the Black Mary, Rosaleen showers Lily with love and support. Rosaleen treats Lily like she is her own daughter. Rosaleen accepts the way Lily is and has faith in her. "'Here you go. Happy Birthday" (28). Rosaleen cares about Lily and knows when something is important to her, like her Birthday. Lily never gets anything from T-Ray on her Birthday, but Rosaleen cares so much about her that she still gets Lily something. Rosaleen can tell when Lily is in pain or is sad like most mothers can. "'Well why don't we sit down on the side of the road awhile?'" (28). Rosaleen acknowledges the fact that Lily feels upset, and is comfortable expressing the need to rest and relax. Since Lily has known Rosaleen a long time she is comfortable expressing herself around Rosaleen and knows that Rosaleen will listen to her problems and insecurities. "'I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason'" (11). Rosaleen and Lily have a connection that most mothers and daughters have. They care

T. Ray breaks the news that Lily’s mom had left Lily with him and had come back to pack up her stuff when the big argument between he and Lily’s mom happened. At that point, Lily has enough of T. Ray, so she starts to have a mini-mental breakdown. Amidst the chaos going on inside her mind, she hears a voice say, “Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open” (41). That little voice means all the difference in the world to Lily. To Lily, it is as if her mother is saying to leave T. Ray and start a new life. Right then she knows that she has to

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 a matter of seconds I knew exactly what I had to do-leave. I had to get away from T. Ray, who was probably on his way back this minute to do Lord-knows-what to me. ”(p. 41). In Sue Monk Kidd’s fiction book The Secret Life of Bees, Lily’s life is an obvious example of coming of age.

Rosaleen was Lily’s maid while she was living with her father, T-Ray. Lily runs away from home with Rosaleen. At first Rosaleen doesn’t know where they are going and eventually Lily tells her. This quote is said by Rosaleen when she finds out what is really going on. “I get it. You ran off ‘cause of what your daddy said about your mother. It didn’t have nothing to do with me in jail”(Kidd 53). This quote is significant because it makes Rosaleen think that Lily doesn’t really care about her. Eventually August and Lily talk about Lily’s mother. Rosaleen and August knew about Lily’s mother. This quote is said by Lily while she was getting comforted by Rosaleen. “I wish you’d told me what you knew about my mother”(Kidd 264). This quote is significant because Lily realizes all the secrets that were hidden from her. Rosaleen taught Lily that the truth isn’t always great through keeping secrets from

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.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a novel about a girl named Lily. Lily lives in South Carolina in 1964. She has an abusive father and a mother who died 10 years ago. Rosaleen, Lily’s mother figure and caretaker, got into trouble and got into jail. Lily then decided to escape with Rosaleen to Tiburon, South Carolina. There they find the beekeeping Boatwright sisters (August, June and May) who hold the secret to Lily’s mother’s past. In the book The Secret Life of Bees there are many sad negative events; however, every negative event has a positive outcome.

Many people say that you need to read the book before you watch movie based on the book because the movie is always different. The movie for The Secret Life of Bees is no exception to that rule. The Secret Life of Bees is about a 14-year-old, white girl, named Lily Owens, living in 1964. While Lily was just 4 years old, her mother, Deborah, died, and her only memory of her mom is hazy and unsure. In her memory, Deborah was packing a bag to leave her abusive husband T. Ray and take Lily with her. Before they could leave though, T. Ray tried to force her to stay, and she grabbed a gun. T. Ray knocked it out of her hand, so Lily wanted to hand it back to her. Then she accidentally shot her mother, and she died. In the summer of ‘64, Lily ran

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.

The Secret Life of Bees begins in the town of Sylvan, South Carolina and tells the story of 14-year-old Lily Melissa Owens. She lives on a peach orchard with her neglectful and abusive father, T. Ray. They have Black maid named Rosaleen who is a companion and caretaker of Lily. The book opens with Lily's discovery of bees in her bedroom and the story of how she killed her mother. The eve before her birthday Lily sneaks out into the peach orchard to visit the box of her mother’s belongings which is buried there however before she can hide them T. Ray finds her and punishes her. The next day Rosaleen and Lily head into town where Rosaleen is arrested for pouring her bottle of tobacco spit on three white men. Lily breaks her out of prison and they begin hitchhiking toward Tiburon, SC, a town Lily had seen on the back of a picture of a black Virgin Mary which her mom had owned. They hitch a ride to Tiburon and once there, they buy lunch at a general store, and Lily sees a picture of the same Virgin Mary on a jar of honey. She asks the store owner where it came from and he gives her directions to the Boatwright house. They then meet the makers of the honey: August, May and June Boatwright, who are all black. Lily makes up a wild story about being recently orphaned. The sisters welcome Rosaleen and Lily into their home. They are then introduced to beekeeping and the Boatwright’s way of life. Lily learns more about the Black Madonna honey that the sisters make. She begins working