The figurative language in the novel, The Secret Life Of Bees, defines the father, T. Ray, as controlling, because of his actions and emotions towards Lily. T. Ray is Lily’s father who punishes his child by making her kneel on Martha Whites, which are coarsely ground up corn flakes that feel like powdered glass, and dig into Lily’s knees as she kneels on them. After the hour that Lily kneels there, as Rosaleen takes a look at her knees and on page twenty six he marches in “despising” and “full of anger.” Lily thought that he could have still loved her after her mother’s death, but now he treats her as though he can control her into his will and doesn’t treat her as a father should. The words that are used to describe his emotions show just