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

Discrimination is described as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, gender, or disability”. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, is a story set in South Carolina during 1964. This story follows the main character, Lily, as she runs away from home. With the story being set right in the middle of the civil rights movement, we notice many of the characters face discrimination. A Doll's House by Henrick Ibsen is set in a Norwegian town in 1879. This story shows the main character, Nora, as she hides a massive secret from her husband. During the 18’s women were very often looked down on and discriminated against. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and A Doll's House by Henrick Ibsen both address discrimination in two different ways to impact the

Racism is an extremely prominent topic that is included throughout the story. There are many times in the story where characters are discriminating against others without even realizing it. One example of this is when Lily says “T”. Ray did not think colored women were smart...I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white... All I could think was August was so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That's what let me know I had some prejudice buried inside me”(Kidd 78). This is just one example of racism in the book. When Lily says that she thinks that Rosaleen couldn't be as smart as her just because she is white, it shows that even someone who doesn't outright show hate against black people still has discriminatory views. Lily must realize that she has this prejudice inside of her. As Lily realizes that she is in some ways discriminating, this helps her focus on changing her views to not think of hateful thoughts. Lily helps show that unintentional discrimination happens more often than people admit or even