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Secret Life Of Bees Prejudice Quotes

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The theme of racial prejudice and injustice, is threaded throughout the course of Lily’s journey in The Secret Life of Bees. Racism is a type of prejudice, which in a nutshell, is basically a prejudgment based on generalizations and flawed reasoning, targeting a particular race. In other words, racial prejudice can lead to discrimination, stereotyping, irrational hatred, or suspicion, based on decisions before the facts were known. Lily exemplifies many of the white community’s prejudices about black people. Lily finds herself to possess prejudice at times, due to the influence created by the whites around her. For the Caucasians in the book, it’s almost natural for them to think that black people have lower morals, lower IQ, less civilized …show more content…

Lily spots the shelf of honey jars in a store, with a black Mary pictured on them. “I pointed to the honey jars. 'Where did you get those?’ He thought the tone of shock in my voice was really consternation. 'I know what you mean. A lot of folks won't buy it 'cause it's got the Virgin Mary pictured as a colored woman.” (Kidd 64) In this quote, Lily is actually taken by surprise when she finds out that the black Mary on the honey jar was identical to the picture of Mary she had. Naturally, the store owner assumed she was shocked because of the fact that there was a colored woman on the jar; he jumps straight to a prejudiced …show more content…

“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 is 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) Caucasian people such as T. Ray are always reckoning that colored people lack the same degree of intelligence or cultivation as Caucasians, and this prejudice thought goes against the fact that colored people can be just as educated as whites. This bias coming from Lily’s father is impacting her and even though Lily never tries to be prejudiced on purpose, she admits that she has a hint of prejudice in her. After spending time with colored people, Lily realizes she had been making flawed assumptions about how blacks weren’t as educated as

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805 Words | 4 Pages

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a novel about Lily, who runs away from home to Tiburon, after she and Rosaleen, her “stand-in mom” were arrested. Lily killed her mother at a young age, and she feels guilty about it. When Lily and Rosaleen are at Tiburon, Lily finds a picture of The Black Madonna at a store, which was the same picture that Lily’s mom had. This leads them to a pink house, where they meet August, June, and May. August is the oldest and is seen as the leader of the house. Before each chapter of the novel, there is a quote.

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193 Words | 1 Pages

Through indirect characterization, Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees, displays Rosaleen as an obstinate character in order to exhibit the southern racism at hand. For example, Rosaleen is indirectly characterized when she comes into contact with the town’s most notorious racist, Franklin Posey, and will not apologize for standing up for her beliefs. Recalling the event, she exclaims, “‘he hit me till the policeman said that was enough. They didn’t get no apology, though’” (46).

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158 Words | 1 Pages

In the article “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,’’ Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts that the idea of race is not based on someone’s intelligence. People will always have a different opinion on intelligence. It is wrong to make the assumption that “blacks” are not as intelligent as “whites”. Coats says “There is no fixed sense of ‘whiteness’ or ‘blackness’.” He also explains how race is a social construct.

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879 Words | 4 Pages

Every person young or old, is labelled with either a positive or negative stereotype. Stereotypes affect one’s social life, emotions, and how one interacts with the community. In the 1940’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many stereotypes that are destructive and can prevent individual growth. The three stereotypes that will be focused on are, people who supposedly do bad things are evil and scary, people should not judge others by their actions, and black people are treated poorly based on their skin tone.

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325 Words | 2 Pages

An important idea of The Secret Life of Bees is racism. Not only does Lily, the main character, struggle with judging others, but Rosaleen has to deal with living in a racist society. For instance, when Rosaleen goes to town in order to register to vote, a few men in town don’t agree with her right to vote. They try to stop her, eventually hitting her over the head and knocking her out. “They lunged at her, and everything started to spin… then Rosaleen lay sprawled on the ground, pinned, twisting her fingers around clumps of grass” (33).

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1119 Words | 5 Pages

There are certain things that set humans apart from other creatures. Intelligence, emotion, and humanity are concepts that many understand while others struggle to grasp. In a time before the Civil War, African Americans were treated with a lack of humanity and respect. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, exposes the racism towards African Americans in the 19th century by showing the interaction of Jim with white Americans.

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

This paper explores corruption within society and how that corruption leads to the loss of innocence. In the novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, order is an allegory to innocence. When corruption is introduced, order is lost, leading to the loss of innocence. I will support this idea by explaining what represented this innocence and how it was lost, what influenced this loss of innocence from the start, and what ultimately restored innocence within the children. “‘It was like that at first,’ said Ralph, ‘before things-’

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885 Words | 4 Pages

Scout and Lily Compare and Contrast Essay Both Scout, from To KIll a Mockingbird and Lily, from The Secret Life of Bees uphold their beliefs regarding race and personal prejudices in their own pieces of literature. Although these stereotypes belong to two different characters, some similarities can be found between them as well. Lily and Scout have had different ranges of exposure to African Americans, however they both eventually developed mature thoughts involving race and represented strong female characters in the midst of male-dominated societies. Scout and Lily were both constantly considering and believing what they heard regarding African Americans from their guardians and classmates at the beginning of each novel.

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1013 Words | 5 Pages

Racism springs from ignorance - Mario Balotelli. I think that this quote by Mario Balotelli, a soccer player from italy is right, because to be racist you have to be ignorant. Racism is a big issue in To Kill a Mockingbird and in real life. Harper Lee, through her characters of Bob Ewell, Atticus, and Scout illustrates that in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, racist views are a choice one makes. In her descriptions of Bob Ewell’s actions and reactions to African Americans, Harper Lee shows that Bob Ewell chooses to be racist because she described him as a mean spirited person.

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1919 Words | 8 Pages

A New Family: Interracial Relationships and Religion in The Secret Life of Bees In such a diverse world where different races come together and interact, the early 1960s reveal society’s surprised reaction to these relationships. Interracial relationships are strongly frowned upon during this time, almost as if they are illegal. Fortunately, over time, people begin to accept those with different backgrounds and can easily communicate with each other. Hardships are still present today, but society in moving in a better direction.

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703 Words | 3 Pages

In the essay, “A Genealogy of Modern Racism”, the author Dr. Cornel West discusses racism in depth, while conveying why whites feel this sense of superiority. We learn through his discussion that whites have been forced to treat black harshly due to the knowledge that was given to them about the aesthetics of beauty and civility. This knowledge that was bestowed on the whites in the modern West, taught them that they were superior to all races tat did not emulate the norms of whites. According to Dr. West the very idea that blacks were even human beings is a concept that was a “relatively new discovery of the modern West”, and that equality of beauty, culture, and intellect in blacks remains problematic and controversial in intellectual circles

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1054 Words | 5 Pages

Many of the differences are purely imaginary because of how others perceptions of whites have rubbed off on them “Man, did you smell them?" (pg. ) These imaginary ideas stem from racial prejudice and the hostility history and current segregation at their time had pushed into their

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624 Words | 3 Pages

Eventually, Lily grows to stands up to T.Ray. Throughout the novel she has a sarcastic response to everything. However, towards the end of the novel she begins to have an actual voice. She even learns about prejudices. Since is she not prejudice towards blacks, Lily thinks others aren’t either.

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941 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird to show that prejudice can affect even the most selfless people. The mockingbird symbol is seen through three specific characters which include: Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and, Atticus Finch. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley is one of the first characters to be seen as a mockingbird. He is an outcast and he is judged by all the gossip that speaks differently of him, he is a mockingbird in the midst of evil.

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1440 Words | 6 Pages

The act of racial discrimination impacts innocent people's lives in numerous, negative ways; hence why multiple people, worldwide can not tolerate racism and discrimination. The novel written by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, displays a wide range of scenarios where racism results in suffering. Rosaleen, a black woman, will never forget how three white men negatively impact her life; she will remain scarred unto death. Also, ever since the racial incident involving April and her twin, May, pain is constantly accompanying April; consequently, she commits suicide. Finally, when May loses April, she endures all the various sufferings of the world, including racial discrimination.

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