Black Madonna In The Secret Life Of Bees

473 Words2 Pages

Kessia Andersen
American Literature
Dr. Mulrooney

Residing on a peach farm in South Carolina with her careless father, Lily Owens has framed her whole life around one vague memory – the afternoon her mother died, when Lily was four. From that time, her only real friend has been kind, and sometimes fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her “stand-in mother.”
The quest for her mother, and the need to mother oneself, are important elements in this well-composed coming-of-age novel. Lily takes the chance to leave home with her beloved nanny, Rosaleen, escaping to the only place she can think of – Tiburon, South Carolina – and decides to investigate more about her dead mother. The plot lines neatly composed, “The Secret Life of Bees” is a well-crafted novel with an inspired description of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the courageous, kind, special women who perpetuate Lily’s story, prevail in the second part of the book. …show more content…

She finds out that once her mother once left her. Lily’s reaction is incomprehensible. Her delusions about her mother were crashed. Lily was transferring the guilt from herself to her mother. Children have a difficult time dealing with their parent’s mistakes. Lily was particularly having a difficult time dealing with the faults of her mother. This was probably due to her age. Having argued the fact that if she had detected she was left later on in life, then it may be simpler for her to deal with