Themes In The Secret Life Of Bees

Everyone has a secret life that they keep hidden from the rest of the world. Lies are told on a daily basis in order to keep these lives stashed in the dark. In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the bees are the ones that have the most secret life of all. They each have their own specific role to play deep within the hive. It's obvious that the author had meant for some of her characters to portray the roles that these buzzing insects have to dutifully fulfill every duty. Lily and Zach are the field bees, August is a nurse bee, and the Lady of Chains is the Queen bee.

The Secret Life Of Bee’s is authored by Sue Monk Kidd and has interesting themes throughout the book. The star of the show is Lily, she is the main character and takes us on her journey through her life to where she is now, in high school. With a full time angry dad fathering her, she and her maid/friend abandon ship. The two peas in a pod run off to Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily goes to prove that there is a great deal of resilience in the human spirit.

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

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.

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

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

Accepting our own identity is a fact of life. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is about a 14 year old girl named Lily Owens. The story takes place in 1964 in South Carolina. Lily finds her identity throughout the story, while learning a great deal about herself in the process. We should accept our own identity.

The major conflict of The Secret Life of Bees is Lily running away. For the majority of the book Lily is trying to tell August that she ran away, and why she ran away. Lily ran away for many reasons, one of the main reasons is the way that T. Ray (her father) treated her. Another reason is Lily wanted to know more about her mother that died in a shot gun accident, and August could answer that. Towards the end of the novel Lily told August about her running away, and then she asked about her mother. This

The Importance of Family     In almost every circumstance, one relies on those who came before them. Whether it is a human, dog, or even a bee, loyalty is a key point in one’s life. Throughout The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, the motif of bees is often mentioned as an important part of Lily’s life. Even when she travels away from home and moves in with the Calendar sisters, bees are an important part of her life. Her new mother figure, August Boatwright, explains to her the importance of a bee colony, and how bees make the world a better place.

In the book, The Secret Life of Bees, there is a significant bond within the female community in Lily’s life. These women teach Lily to not only love herself and others, but to pursue love. It is through the guidance of her community, Deborah, Rosaleen, the Boatwright sisters, and the daughters of Mary, that Lily is able to gain strength and grow mentally and emotionally. Her journey begins with two women, who are Lily’s first mother figures, Deborah and Rosaleen. Deborah and Rosaleen are mother figures to Lily in her early years of life, establishing a community.

The Secret Life of Bees is a book about a young girl named Lily who lives with her father T.Ray and their housekeeper Rosaleen. The book is set in South Carolina in 1964. Lily is trying to figure out the truth about her mother’s death. While at the same time, she has to deal with her father’s constant abuse. Events from the book help mold Lily into the person she is at the end of the book.

Throughout the Bildungsroman, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd presents the development and maturation of the central character, Lily Owens, as she desperately searches for clues to unlock her mother’s past and progresses from a lost, isolated, and insecure teen to a woman who gains knowledge and finds her identity by understanding the world around her. Being motherless, Lily was raised by an abusive and cruel father. However, despite struggling to fit in and feel loved by others, she still finds a way to change her life the way “a queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community...but introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place” (Kidd 276). Throughout Lily’s story, bees serve as a symbol of exploration and

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,

The Civil Right Act occurred in 1960 which allowed African-Americans more rights. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees many characters challenges and uncover the meaning of accepting taboo ideas. Set in 1964, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees suggests that accepting taboo actions does not necessarily compromises a person’s moral compass and can lead to an awareness and understanding of the world.