Relationships In The Secret Life Of Bees

The powerful bond of a community can never be tainted nor broken if those involved understand the strength it yields. In the book, The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens finds herself a new family in which she gains wisdom, courage, and mutual care. The importance of family is demonstrated by the contrasts between Lily’s relationship with her abusive father, Terrence Ray, and her newfound bond with the Boatwright family. T. Ray is a terrible parent that does not catalyze healthy growth for Lily. The lack of a mother causes her to feel broken and insecure inside. On the other hand, the Boatwrights love Lily unconditionally, and care for her as their own. With the ability to compare the different guardians, the reader is even more disgusted

Ray illuminates her lack of a mother, and she uses the memory of Deborah along with Rosaleen to fight his ability to make her feel weak. Lily grows up being unloved by her own father, and his abuse fuels her pain. She longs for the presence of a mother to feel she has someone to gain power and wisdom from. “She would brush it into such a tower of beauty[...]T. Ray, naturally, refused to buy me bristle rollers” (Kidd 3). Lily describes a simple item of hair curlers to convey her yearning for a mother’s love. The poor girl results to creating figments of her imagination, and fantasizes about her mother in the midst of her father’s deficient parenting. Although, Lily clings to the memories of her mother to hold onto her resilience. This is portrayed while Lily is kneeling on grits as a punishment, “I felt[...]my mother’s picture inside[...]it seemed[...]like my mother was there[...]helping me absorb all his meanness” (Kidd 24). The use of the items of her mother directly illustrates how Lily copes with the abuse. The act of “helping” reveals how Lily is able to harbor strength from Deborah, and how that sense of community quells her weakness. Similarly, Lily builds a loving bond with Rosaleen, since she serves as a stand-in mother. With this maternal bond, Lily gradually develops the courage to abandon T. Ray. Lily grew up witnessing Rosaleen’s strong arguments with T. Ray, for example, “T. Ray[...]threatening[...](to) fire

Ray had not given her, therefore Lily’s sense of community disintegrates her weaknesses. Initially, August Boatwright is able to express the importance of love by incorporating the concept into “bee yard etiquette.” In the process of welcoming Lily into the community, August taught her, “send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved” (Kidd 92). She understands Lily’s desperation for love, and parallels her craving to one of a bee. Kidd cleverly adds pithy quotes to precede the chapters in order to parallel Lily’s life to that of a beehive. “Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die” - The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men (136). The “colony” is referring to the Boatwright house in which they show Lily unwavering love and “support.” The concept of isolation ruining one’s life draws a parallel to Lily’s distress after enduring the abuse of her father. Therefore, this quote accentuates how much stronger a community is when it is unified. Later in the book, the Boatwrights back Lily in her decision to stay at the house against T. Ray’s order, and it heightens their power. “‘Good riddance,’ he said, and moved toward the door. We had to open up our little wall of women to let him through” (Kidd 298). This depiction of a “wall’ blocking T. Ray from taking