Stereotypes In The Secret Life Of Bees

In the 1960s, change progressively began to establish itself in the United States, especially in 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. These years proved to be violent amongst the African American and White communities, sometimes taking the lives of innocent black Americans who were trying to fulfill their rights as American citizens. Lily Owens, a 14-year-old white timid school girl and the protagonist in Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, witnessed this cruelty with her own eyes. Growing up in the south in Sylvan, South Carolina, Lily inadvertently developed her own stereotypes about African Americans. As the novel progressed, Lily came to realize her prejudice upon meeting August Boatwright, a black

August decided to take in the refugees and soon tried to educate Lily about the spinner, a mechanism that serves to separate the honey. In this pivotal moment, Lily realized for the first time that she "thought [blacks] could be smart, but not as smart as [herself]" and "had some prejudice buried inside" (Kidd 78). From this point on, Lily slowly began to change her perspective and beliefs about African Americans. This change of heart brings the reader to believe that if a young girl can come to realize her mistakes, then so can other Americans during this time period. However, African Americans face discrimination and racism to this

At first, Lily faced discrimination from June, August's younger sister. Through this, Kidd stresses that prejudice is not always one-way. In the 1960s, and today, people developed grudges against each other based on race. June's position towards the beginning of Lily's stay is best described as hostile, but with time, she comes to accept Lily and apologizes for her behavior. Although at this point in the novel Lily didn't fight to do something about the racism around her, she soon developed into a more active person, one who tried to demonstrate