ipl-logo

Criminal Intent In The Secret Life Of Bees

687 Words3 Pages

Criminal intent is the committing of a crime despite the knowledge and awareness that such is wrong lawfully and morally. Crime is a constant in the novel The Secret Life of Bees. Nearly every mentioned character is a criminal based on the laws of the time: 1960’s. The story is about 14-year-old Lily Owens, who runs away with her black stand-in mother from her abusive father. Already, in the plot summary alone, is crime spotted within the story; although of the grievances that are displayed in the novel, the worst and most intentional crimes are committed by T. Ray, Lily, and Rosaleen. To begin, Terrence Ray is the father and main antagonist to Lily. He is guilty of numerous crimes throughout the story, the main of which are child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. In South Carolina during the civil rights movement, there is plenty a white man like Terrence can do and get away with on account of his skin pigment; however, the south cannot turn a blind-eye towards violence against women or children. T.Ray, with full knowledge of his actions, beats and abuses Lily on several occasions within the novel from forcing her to kneel on grits to assaulting her with a knife. His intent is …show more content…

Various types of illegal actions being committed with full awareness of their actions makes their crimes, even if other characters have worse offenses, the worst in the story. Terrence, with the worst moral crime, is, therefore, the worst of the three with Rosaleen and Lily following close behind. Lily committed the worst crime of murder, but unlike Terrence, did not intend to do so. Rosaleen, with her ignorance towards the opinions of others, lacks the severity of the other two but more than makes up for it in her choosing to perpetuate petty crimes. All three of the characters know exactly what they are doing with Lily being the only one to show any sign of repentance or

Show More
Related
481 Words | 2 Pages

One of the themes presented by Sue Monk Kidd in, “The Secret Life of Bees” is pushing boundaries. In the book, Lily runs away from her abusive father and stays at a beekeepers house where she would be safe. This beekeepers house is a black family and while she stayed there and everyone was constantly pushing boundaries. The story relates to the article written by Nadra Kareem Nittle which was called, “How the Freedom Riders Movement Began”. This article was about a group of people called freedom riders traveling together to end the Jim Crow laws or other known as, racist laws.

Read More
1542 Words | 7 Pages

In American writer Sue Monk Kidd's fiction novel The Secret Life of Bees, the reader is introduced to Lily Owens, a naive and unfortunate character longing for her mother's absence. Growing up with an abusive father, T Ray, Lily is kept miserable until a stroke of confidence allows her to run away with the only person on her side, Rosaleen. Through multiple influences and revelations of truth, she can develop individually with the help of her new family, the Boatwrights, transforming her into a profound and confident character. One of the major influences Lily undergoes throughout the book is the religious rituals August and the Boatwrigts assign her. An example of this is the observance of a religious statue, The Black Mary, worshiped by the

Read More
161 Words | 1 Pages

Sue Monk Kidd indirectly characterizes Rosaleen through speech , in The Secret Life of Bees, as brave in order to reveal that she cares about Lily enough to stand up to T Ray and be like a mother figure to Lily. An example of this is when Rosaleen defends Lily and her new baby chick, “ she said and looked him up one side and down the other ‘You ain’t touching that chick.’ ” (Kidd 11).In this scene, T Ray was threatening to kill Lily’s baby chick that she had recently acquired. Since Lily was only 8 years old she could not defend herself against her father, so Rosaleen is brave and steps in and acts as her mother in protecting her, and what she cares about, from her ill-tempered father. The author does this in order to explain to the reader

Read More
1388 Words | 6 Pages

The novel goes through many recurring themes such as child abuse, social and economic differences, and legitimacy. These themes not only impact the main character but all the characters as a whole. It is the harrowing story of how Ruth Anne “Bone” Boatwright, a child must learn to cope and deal with the many terrible atrocities that are inflicted upon her by her stepfather, “Daddy Glen.” Before Bone could even coherently make a judgment upon herself she was labeled as an outcast. She was a sin and mistake that should be labeled as such for the world to know about it.

Read More
962 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the story, is on the case about an African American, Tom Robinson, who was reported as attacking a white woman. At the courthouse, the two sides were going at it. The Ewell’s were saying that he had beat her, and choked her.

Read More
1796 Words | 8 Pages

Chapter 1 The five aspects of a quest are: (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there. A book that uses the aspects of a quest very nicely is the secret life of bees. (a) The quester in this story is a young girl named lily owens who fights with her father and does not have a mother because lily accidently shot her when she younger.

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout The Secret Life of Bees bees play a recurring role in the novel, repeatably being mentioned during the novel in epigrams before the start of each chapter and within the story itself. Unfortunately, on certain occasions the reason why bees are included in a certain part of the story can be unclear and confusing to readers, causing them to occasionally misinterpret the importance of bees throughout the novel. Regardless, the bees throughout play a very important role in understanding many of the themes and symbolism that Kidd included within the novel. In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd symbolizes Lily’s experiences and situations through the bees frequently present in the novel to show that seemingly different things can function in the same way.

Read More
1147 Words | 5 Pages

Tom, and African American living in Maycomb county, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a poor, white female. When Tom is accused of beating and raping Mayella, many people around the town think that he’s automatically guilty. Atticus, Tom’s defending attorney, agrees to take on the case to help Tom because

Read More
556 Words | 3 Pages

Around 100 different gods are related to the moon. Some live on it while others may only control it from somewhere else and few have no control over the moon at all. Another thing about these Moon gods is that most of them are actually women. In The Secret Life of Bees, author Sue Monk Kidd uses the symbolism of the moon to show a connection between femininity and divinity. Black Mary carries a crescent moon with her and has also been said to live on the moon.

Read More
302 Words | 2 Pages

In the Bildungsroman, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily, the young motherless protagonist, exists in a life which lacks love and care, but with an act of rebellion, alters the entire course of her life. After enduring cruel punishments from a sadist father, Lily accepts this as the way of life she must live. However, after a crucial moment, Lily begins to consider the idea of freedom from her oppressive life; she realizes this when she and Rosaleen, her substitute mother, come under arrest for disrupting the public and Terrence, her father, would only take Lily out of jail. This is a pivotal moment as Lily a heated conversation with her father and exclaims, “You don’t scare me”(Kidd 38). Her brash action to rebel against her father

Read More
1166 Words | 5 Pages

Despite racial inequalities in the South, Atticus sticks to his own morals and agrees to be the defending lawyer for Tom Robinson, a black man being accused of raping a white woman. Although Atticus’ defense in court was thorough and clearly proved Tom’s innocence, the jury was prejudiced towards black folks and convicted Tom as guilty. Nonetheless, Atticus is still a hero despite losing the case. He has the courage to stand up for what he believes in, fights with reason rather than guns, and has utmost determination, making him a hero despite being just an average human being. Ultimately, his thoughts and actions set the stage for major changes in the meaning of equality throughout Maycomb County, changing lives of numerous people.

Read More
1155 Words | 5 Pages

People don’t like Tom because of the color of his skin. Classmates and others were not happy and teasing her because her father defends an African American person. (Lee, 110) Tom is convicted of raping Mayella, Bob Ewell’s daughter. After all the evidence presented, it was clear Tom was being

Read More
535 Words | 3 Pages

This novel is mostly centered on Tom Robinson’s case and the final judgment. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella, daughter of Bob Ewell. Atticus, being a symbol of good moral, dug his own grave when he decided to defend Tom. Since Tom Robinson was an African-American, all the odds were against him, so Atticus’s decision to defend Tom was the cause of the enmity between society and his family.

Read More
723 Words | 3 Pages

It was the very beginning of Spring . The sun was shining, the birds were singing And the flowers petals were blooming. May, a thirteen year-old girl with long blonde hair who loved the outdoors always enjoyed the flowers, birds, and especially honey the sweet sticky honey. Mays parents worked at restaurants and always worked so they weren't there. She decided to go outside, she was sniffing the air trying to see if she could smell any honey.

Read More
983 Words | 4 Pages

“A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love” (Connie May Fowler). This quote reflects the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd because the protagonist in the story, Lily Owens, her mother have died when she was four years old and she didn’t feel loved by her abusive father, T. Ray Owens, until she met the Boatwrights family with the housekeeper, Rosaleen, and stayed with them. The Boatwrights family are the three black sisters who are August, May, and June. This novel took place in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily grew up and where she found the answer to her questions.

Read More

More about Criminal Intent In The Secret Life Of Bees

Related Topics

Open Document