Queenlessness In The Secret Life Of Bees

"The queen… is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive… they show unmistakable signs of queenless" (Kidd 1). With Lily losing her mother at a young age she displays signs of "queenlessness". In the novel The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens grows up in Sylvan, South Carolina with her abusive father, T. Ray, and her loving house maid, Rosaleen, who is her only mother figure. There was an accident when Lily was young and Lily shot her mother, but she cannot remember exactly what happened that day since she was so young. Lily is so disgruntled at T. Ray, for not telling her about her mother and trying to cover up Lily's memories of her mother. She decides to run away with Rosaleen to search for information about her

When they arrive in Tibourne, South Carolina they are welcomed into the house of the honey making Boatwright Sisters. Where the Boatwrigth sisters take her and Rosaleen in and they act as the mother figures that Lily never had. Lily learns about her mother but more importantly about herself. She unknowingly embarks on a spiritual journey where her views of her mother and herself change tremendously. She also gains a new appreciation for the community she has around her. In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd expresses the importance of having a strong community through female empowerment, Lily being able to forgive people, and the foreshadowing with the bees. In the novel Sue Monk Kidd displays the importance of having a strong community through female empowerment. Lily and Rosaleen leave a toxic environment with T. Ray, where Lily

The bees symbolize the "women in the novel, sheltered in their small house… the women develop an extremely close, nurturing relationship" with one another (Rajendran 99-100). They demonstrate strength and resilience just like the women in the novel. All of the women in the Boatwright house work together to not only take care of the bees but take care of each other. Kidd uses the beehive to symbolize Lily's mother, and how she may not have one mother but she is surrounded by a lot of women who love and care for her like a mother would. August Boatwright explains to Lily that the queen bee is "the mother of every bee in the hive, and they all depend on her to keep it going…she's the mother of thousands" (Kidd 217). The beehive represents all of the people who love Lily and who are mother figures to Lily even though they are not her true mother. This also foreshadows Lily's complete acceptance into the community of Tibourne, and how Lily begins to understand that the Boatwright sisters and Rosaleen are like her mothers. August calls Lily a beekeeper and this sparks a feeling of complete acceptance into their community. She feels so welcomed into this family unlike she did back in Sylvan. Kidds symbolizes the bees by August explains to Lily that "having the bees around was supposed to ensure that the dead person lived again" (Kidd 297). She is