Community In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

“The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence” (Kidd 1). Bees are a part of their own strong community with their queen as their leader; likewise in a family, the parents hold an important leadership role. This symbolism of community is seen throughout the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, where the protagonist Lily loses her sense of community when her mom dies. Bees and beehives come up from the beginning to the end of the story, symbolizing the state of Lily's community, whether she feels supported or alone. Kidd uses symbolism throughout the novel to support the theme that a loving and strong community can make you stronger. In each chapter of the novel, a

In chapter 8, Lily calls her father T-Ray to see if he knows her favorite color. By doing this, she can see if he truly loves her. The quote shared at the beginning of the chapter talks about how bees depend on strong contact with their colony. “Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require its social companionship and support - The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men,” (Kidd 114). In this chapter, Lily gains the courage to talk to T-Ray, so she calls him. She hadn’t spoken to him in a while. She asked him a simple question about herself, which he didn’t know, meaning she knew he didn’t love her. She was left with anger and resentment because she didn’t have companionship and support from her father. This quote shows that the author is using the symbolism of bees to show the theme of the story. She didn’t have a strong community, so she was left feeling weak and hurt. In the next chapter, Lily learns the big news about her mother. She learns from May that her mother had come to the Boatwright house before her. This strong communication from the women at the Boatwright house helped Lily find the answers she