Summary Of The Secret Life Of Bees

The Civil Rights Movement was a time filled with racial discrimination and segregation. During this time of hate, it was difficult for many people to do the simplest simple life necessities. The Secret Life of Bees takes place during the thick of the movement when the Civil Rights Act was passed. Lily Owens is a 14 year old white girl from just outside of Sylvian, South Carolina. Lily lives with her dad, T. Ray Owens, and Rosaleen who is at the house the majority of the time working for T. Ray. For most of Lily’s life, she has been haunted by the death of her mother, Deborah Fontanel, who died when Lily was four. Throughout the book, we get to see Lily’s the journey Lily took to Tiburon, South Carolina, is search of information about her mother.

The setting takes place in the 60s, during times of segregation and discrimination against African Americans. One of the most important parts of the Civil Rights Movement was when the Civil Rights Act was passed by congress. This got rid of all segregation between the black and white people by law. This was a part of the novel in the very beginning when Lily and Rosaleen were still at T. Ray’s. Rosaleen and Lily were watching tv when the announcement was made. “Today, July second, 1964, the President of the United States signed the Civil Rights Act into law in the East Room of the White House….” (Kidd 20). Lily walked into the room and Rosaleen made Lily fix the tv for her. Rosaleen then payed close attention to the tv and hushed Lily when she tried to speak because she wanted to hear everything. This event, and this specific quote, was extremely important to have in the book because of characters like Rosaleen. Another example of historical influence in The Secret Life of Bees was when Rosaleen got arrested for spitting on the white men’s shoes. “‘You’re under arrest,’ he told Rosaleen. ‘Assault, theft, and disturbing the peace’” (Kidd 33). This was something that happened quite frequently to black people during this time. Rosaleen might be a fictional character, but she is a perfect example of an unfair act against African Americans. The men lunged at Rosaleen and started to beat her senseless, and Rosaleen was the one that was blamed by the police afterward. The third example of historical influence in the novel, was when a white male actor was rumoured to be bringing an African American woman into the movie theater with him, without the woman having to sit in the balcony. “‘You won’t believe what people downtown are saying,’ he said. ‘They’re saying Jack Palance is coming to Tiburon this weekend and bringing a colored woman with him’” (Kidd 154). When Zach got done