Tranformation into a Confident Woman in The Secret life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, is a bildungsroman novel about an adolescent girl and her maturation throughout her fourteenth summer. The novel takes place in the 1960s while the Civil Rights Act is still fairly new to people. Throughout the novel, protagonist Lily Owens struggles as she tries to find her way through obstacles thrown at her. As Lily experiences different events, good and bad, she matures and grows as an individual. Having grown up around a black woman in this time period, Lily had no bias toward one race or the other. But also having grown up in a primarily white town, she never saw the other side of the bias. As the story progresses, Lily learns that people will have biases against her, which is 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.

“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.

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 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.

Haunted by the her own memories, Lily Owens finds comfort in the humming of the bees. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd writes about the life of young girl whose spontaneous decisions lead her to her mother’s past. Lily’s life has revolved around the lack of a mother. Her father, T. Ray, is a harsh and unloving peach farmer who punishes Lily unreasonably and does not fulfil his father like position. Lily’s adventure begins after catching a few bees in a jar. She empathizes with them as they are stuck and alone, something she understands all too well. On the day of her birthday, Lily and her negro nanny, Rosaleen, go out into town to register for voting. Rosaleen and Lily are on their way when a group of white men begin to harass Rosaleen and degrade her for being a negro. Rosaleen pours her spit jug on the shoes of the man and is given no mercy when she is beaten. With Rosaleen ending up in jail, Lily returns to the comfort of the bees once again. As she opens the jar and watches the bees escape, Lily follows suit and flees from home. She breaks Rosaleen out of the hospital and they hitchhike their way to Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily believes that her mother, Deborah, had once visited Tiburon and where she had obtained a picture of a Black Madonna. Lily has spent her whole life looking for new information and connections between herself and her mother. With luck and fate on her side, Lily finds the home of the Boatwright sisters, the creators of the Black

The character who has changed the most in Sue Monk Kidd's novel, The Secret Life of Bees, is Lily Owens. When the novel begins, Lily is constantly pushed around by her father. She has no courage against her daddy, T. Ray, who abbuses and taunts her. His parenting ways, of overpowermeant, fear, and physical punishments are barbaric. Once, Lily was caught under an apple tree with her top unbottoned. She insists to T. Ray that nothing happpened. He calls her a slut and does not believe her T. Ray proceeds to give her a severe punishment. Monk states, "He poured a mound of grits the size of an anthill onto the pine floor. 'Get over here and kneel down,'...I swayed from knee to knee, hoping for a seond or two of relief, but the pain cut deep into my skin" (24).

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 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.

According to Lily “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know anything about life.” (2) The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd is a coming-of-age written novel. Sue Monk Kidd also wrote other books such as, the Mermaid Chair, and the Invention of wings. This novel took place in 1964, in South Carolina in two towns called, Sylvan and Tiburon, during the civil rights movement. The protagonist and narrator of this novel is Lily Owens, she is 14 and is rejected by her parents. T. Ray Owens (lily’s father) is the antagonist, which is cruel. In this novel there is cruelty that you will see throughout the novel and parts of the novel you will experience a show of hope.

n the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily a 14 year old girl is abused by her father and runs away. Throughout Lily's life she was sheltered from blacks and always thought of them as a lower class in society and her in a higher class because of her skin color. As a result she has limited respect for blacks. There are many motifs in this book that change the mindset of Lily, one of which is the Virgin Mary. The symbol the Virgin Mary is a huge impact on Lily's growth and development.

“People can start out one way, and by the time life gets through with them they end up completely different.” Sue Monk Kidd, the author of The Secret Life of Bees, highlights this theme in her work. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, the horrendous events that Lily Owens encounters in her young life are necessary in her journey to adulthood as she develops into a strong, resilient, loving, forgiving young woman. The result of Lily’s mom dying when Lily was only four years old, T. Ray abusing Lily day in and day out, and Lily experiencing racism first hand, have all been a big part of Lily’s young life and have shaped her into the person she is today.

Sue Monk Kidd’s Secret Life of Bees is a story of ultimate tragedy that comes crashing down on young protagonist Lily’s life. From a young age Lily has dealt with the immeasurable weight of accidentally killing her mother, and an abusive father, who’s anger from his wife’s death is directed towards his daughter. In the novel, Lily learns lessons ranging from coming of age, to dealing with grief from the tragedies she experiences. Ultimately Lily discovers that in order to forgive oneself, one has to be able to forgive, and achieve acceptance from others. This becomes clear when Lily first is accepted by August and the Boatwright family, which then gives her the courage to forgive her mother for her abandonment, and finally herself for her sin.

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.