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Summary Of The Secret Life Of Bees

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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. …show more content…

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

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Bees are a mysterious species who have an incredible life that we know nothing about; in connection we live crazy, mysterious, lives with ups and downs; goods and bads. The secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an extraordinary story about a teenager Lily Owens, her abusive father, her mother, and numerous friends. Lily lost her mother at a young age, so she runs away; she ends up living with a loving family of women and finds mothers within them. She learns about friendships, overcoming, forgiveness, and love. In The secret Life of Bees the author shows theme through conflict and symbolism.

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At the time period of the book, racism was very popular, and especially within the town of Maycomb in the book. But racism was on both sides of the

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During the 1930’s in the poor town of Maycomb, Alabama, segregation was a way of life. This becomes an even bigger issue when Tom Robinson, and African-American man, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman. During this part of the novel, Mayella gains and shows her power. Her accusation of rape draws support from most of Maycomb County based on race, class and gender, allowing her to stand stronger and free. Mayella Ewell is indeed powerful when it comes to class, race and gender.

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The story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America, when desegregation is finally achieved. Flannery O’Connor’s use of setting augments the mood and deepens the context of the story. However, O’Connor’s method is subtle, often relying on connotation and implication to drive her point across. The story achieves its depressing mood mostly through the use of light and darkness in the setting.

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As known, this was a period of the civil rights movement. Many African American families, represented by the Younger family in the play, have suffered segregation due to the applied stereotypes against black people.

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Everyone, at the time, was basically afraid to speak up for freedom. It took a lot of effort to stand up for blacks in order to grant them the freedom they deserved. Finally, president Lyndon Johnson enacted the civil rights act, “‘Today, July second, 1964,’ he said, ‘the president of the United States signed the Civil Rights Act into law in the East Room of the White House’” (Monk 20). The author decided to start the book right off with the Civil Rights Act being enacted to show a build up in courage.

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Throughout The Secret Life of Bees bees play a recurring role in the novel, repeatably being mentioned during the novel in epigrams before the start of each chapter and within the story itself. Unfortunately, on certain occasions the reason why bees are included in a certain part of the story can be unclear and confusing to readers, causing them to occasionally misinterpret the importance of bees throughout the novel. Regardless, the bees throughout play a very important role in understanding many of the themes and symbolism that Kidd included within the novel. In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd symbolizes Lily’s experiences and situations through the bees frequently present in the novel to show that seemingly different things can function in the same way.

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Taking certain words from the quote such as, “My folks”, implies that racism is being taught generation after generation. The quote shows a direct link to the prejudice most of Maycomb's community has towards people of color. Cecil Jacobs furthermore states how white people discriminated against black people during the 1930’s. Bob Ewell, a witness in the testimony, and the father of Mayella Ewell, is a very racist person. In one instance, Bob describes Tom Robinson as a black, nigger, raping his Mayella.

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One hundred years later people were still struggling with unity among the races. Whites only signs were plastered all over towns. People were segregated due skin color, but there were people like Rosa Parks who stood for what they believed in. After a long day Rosa was tired, her feet hurt and she was fed up with sitting in the back, so she did what no one had done, she sat in the whites only section. Because it was the 1960’s this caused an outrage, Rosa was arrested.

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To begin, the fact that Lily was white and Rosaleen was black shows the audience that racism was irrational. Even though at first, Lily thought all blacks were uneducated, we see her grow and learn. They bring characters like August that opened Lily’s eyes to a new world. When she begins to develop feelings for Zach it is a totally new world. In school she was taught that they were just trouble, but fell for him anyway and realized everyone was wrong.

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For example, Atticus Finch lives in Maycomb where blacks are separated from the whites. Atticus takes on a case that a black man named Tomas Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. The finch family especially aunt Alexandra does not like, that Atticus is actually trying to win a case for a black person. Atticus is talked behind his back being called a negro lover, but he does not care. The trail comes and

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Another example of racism would be Tom Robinson and his whole court case; despite all the clear evidence that Atticus, a lawyer, provided, the jury, which is made up of all white prejudice men, were in favor of Mr. Ewell, a nasty white man, instead of Tom, who was not only black but crippled. Regardless of the fact that the jury was well aware of the fact that the Ewell family is known for being nasty, lying, no-gooders, An example of this is when Atticus states his views on the Ewell family as, “the disgrace of Maycomb.” The fact that they were white, is what aided them in winning the case. Causing the jury to send a blind eye to the fact that Mayella and possibly the rest of her siblings are being abused and manipulated. Thus, resulting in Tom’s arrest for a crime he didn 't commit.

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Which in this book you see an excellent portrayal of the acts of segregation and discrimination going on around this time. The author showed the struggles of Lily with an abusive father, but at the same time kept her white privilege protected. While her housekeeper, Rosaleen, a strong bold woman keeping herself in tact throughout the obstacles of oppression she faced as a black woman in this time of history, was a representation of what blacks across the country dealt with day by day. A good example of oppression now vs. then is

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“A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love” (Connie May Fowler). This quote reflects the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd because the protagonist in the story, Lily Owens, her mother have died when she was four years old and she didn’t feel loved by her abusive father, T. Ray Owens, until she met the Boatwrights family with the housekeeper, Rosaleen, and stayed with them. The Boatwrights family are the three black sisters who are August, May, and June. This novel took place in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily grew up and where she found the answer to her questions.

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