ipl-logo

Feminism In The Secret Life Of Bees

1490 Words6 Pages

Feminism in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Introduction:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd takes place in the summer in Sylvan, South Carolina. The story of Lily Owens begins in 1964, after the signing of the Civil Rights Act which terminated segregation and banned discrimination when it comes to employment based on a person’s race, religion, color, or sex. Lily Owens is a white, 14-year-old girl growing up in a home with an absent mother and a single father. Her mother died from an accidental death involving a gun shot when she was only 4-years-old which proved to be Lily’s fault. Because of the abstinence of her mother, Lily lacks the knowledge of how to be a lady in her society. In the 60s, women were expected to be married at a young age, usually giving up their life in order to stay at home and have babies. If they did had jobs, they were very low paying. Also, they were expected to do common house chores inside such as cooking and cleaning, look attractive and listen to their husbands because they were the caretakers. The men, however, were expected to work, provide for their family, and do outside jobs such as mowing the lawn or washing cars. Lily, being a resemblance regarding personality and characteristics to her mother, agrees with these thoughts because of the teachings of her father. In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, there are many factors that …show more content…

She represents a very a woman who carries great spirit and courage, which sometimes can put her in a bad situation. She worked on a field which is where T. Ray meets her and takes her to look after his Lily. Rosaleen is the only known motherly figure to Lily ever since the death of her mother. She influences her characteristics onto Lily. She cared for her and loved her with all her heart; hurting Lily is the last thing on her mind.
August

Show More
Related
230 Words | 1 Pages

In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily’s journey is related to our school motto: “Monstra Matrem: Show Thyself a Mother” because she was looking for a mother’s love. Specifically, the motto describes a request for maternal care and to live in the spirit of caring. For example, Lily describes her daydreams when she says, “I used to have daydreams in which she was white and married T. Ray, and became my real mother.” (Kidd 12). This quote shows how Lily wishes Rosaleen was her legal mother since she was the only female figure in Lily’s life at the time.

Read More
508 Words | 3 Pages

Lily ending up at her mother’s previous home was so unlikely, nearly impossible. In the real world, Lily would not have been accepted into their home so easily either. In conclusion, some parts of “The Secret Life of Bees” probably would not occur in the real

Read More
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
652 Words | 3 Pages

Rosaleen and Lily journey to the Boatwright sisters pink house where the sisters welcome them in to stay. At first, Lily lies to the sisters about her early life because she wanted to find out if her mother had stayed there. Rosaleen and Lily learn a lot of things about the sisters when they get there. Once they are there for awhile, Lily begins helping August with the beekeeping and Rosaleen stays in the house to watch over May. They soon learn, that the sisters and the Daughters of Mary have made up their own religion, where they praise the Black Madonna, and have their own worship services at the sister’s house.

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

She later goes to jail for dumping her spit on some people who were being racist to her. Lily gets her out and they run away to Tiburon, South Carolina, the town that holds secrets of her mother. Bees symbolize Lily in many ways, ways you would probably not expect. One way bees are like Lily is bees can't work without their queen and Lily can’t work without her mother. She can’t look

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

Rosaleen, her caretaker, is arrested, which Lily responds to by breaking her out of jail. To avoid being caught or returning to home, Lily and Rosaleen leave town, escaping the ‘jar’. The symbol of the bees has a huge impact on the story and, in ways, foreshadows her capture, and guides Lily. Even though the Boatwright sisters are not family, they love Lily, and introduce her to the bees. The moment when Lily is introduced to beekeeping, “...you can help me and Zach with the bees.”

Read More
646 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel "the secret use of Bees" Sue Monk showed the importance mothers have in the roles they play in their daughters' lives and how it might affect them. "The Secret Life of Bees," by Sue Monk Kidd, follows the transforming journey of the main character Lily Owens. Set against the backdrop of 1960s racial tensions, Lily's life is formed by the presence and influence of numerous mother figures who have a significant impact on her growth and development. These mother figures, such as Rosaleen, August, and the Virgin Mary, provide Lily the love, wisdom, and understanding she craves, allowing her to finally negotiate her terrible history, embrace her individuality, and find consolation in a new family.

Read More
1154 Words | 5 Pages

Lily’s mother is the cause of much of her grief, through her journey she imagines her mother in a way that does not accurately depict who her mother truly was. When she finds out what her mother actually was she, “I stood

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

In the story, Kidd’s use of characterization successfully reveals the theme that people's lives are more complex than they appear. Kidd demonstrates this theme using the characterization of Lily, T. Ray, May, and Deborah. One character that Sue Monk Kidd uses to portray the theme, is the main character Lily. In the beginning of the story, the author shows that Lily can be both mature and immature at times. An example of her maturity in the text is when she says, “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life” (Kidd 2).

Read More
1426 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, I related to the character Lily Owens right at chapter one. In the first chapter of this novel, Lily was describing herself as a visual for readers. While Lily was briefly explaining her physical appearance, the line, “…Even the boys who wore their hair in ducktails dripping with Vitalis and carried combs in their shirt pockets didn’t seem to attracted to me, and they were considered hard up” (Monk Kidd 9), relates to many young girls. I, as a teenager, criticize myself very harshly just because a boy may not like me and that is what Lily is doing in this passage. I feel that Lily feeling this type of way and expressing it helped me to connect to her right from the beginning and put myself into her shoes

Read More
705 Words | 3 Pages

She finds herself in a small town called Tiburon in South Carolina, living with August Boatwright who was once her mother’s maid. After staying in Tiburon for a while, Lily calls her father, curious if he knows what her favourite colour is. They only spoke for a short period of

Read More
1919 Words | 8 Pages

Lily has the strongest relationship with Rosaleen, in which she describes her: She had a big round face and a body that sloped out from her neck like a pup tent, and she was so black that night seemed to seep from her skin. She lived alone in a little house tucked back in the woods, not so far from us, and came every day to cook, clean, and be my stand-in mother. Rosaleen have never had a child herself, so for the last ten years I’d been her guinea pig. (Kidd 2)

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

Love to Relation to Society Eudora Welty’s short story, Lily Daw and The Three Ladies is about a mentally retarded young girl who has decided to make a big life decision. This causes conflict with the three ladies that have helped taken care of her since her mother died, because they too have made a decision for Lily without her knowledge. The main focus of the story is love in relation to society. Welty uses lily and the three ladies to argue the strict societal values that the ladies follow and how lily is a free spirit.

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

Lily then consequently comes to find that the tables are turned and that her mother is the one who is in need of forgiveness. She shows her struggle by saying, “people in general would rather die than forgive” (Kidd 277). Capriciously, she contemplates the situation thinking for one moment “it is over and done,” but in the next she “would be picturing her in the pink house, or out by the wailing wall” (Kidd 278). Ultimately, after her entire debacle, with thrown honey jars as well as many headaches, Lily comes to learn that “you have to find a mother inside yourself” (Kidd 288). This idea sets Lily at ease giving her the knowledge that everything is going to be peaceful from this moment on and that she can take the time to learn to forgive others, just as she has to learn to forgive

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 Feminism In The Secret Life Of Bees

Related Topics

Open Document