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Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees

973 Words4 Pages

Lexi Miller
Mrs. Szabados
Honors English I
22 May 2023
Symbolism in The Secret Life of Bees The Secret Life of Bees illustrates a captivating story of a girl suffering lots of loss, and has to learn to grow and forgive herself and others throughout the book. The backdrop is set in South Carolina in the 1960’s, contrasting a time of prejudice and the theme of equality with The Civil Rights Movement. The main character, Lily, leaves a broken home and collides with destiny to meet her found family, where she is nurtured and welcomed by a set of black sisters from Lily’s mother’s past. Throughout the story, there are a multitude of examples of symbolism in The Secret Life of Bees. You can see this essay dive into three main examples of symbolism …show more content…

Honey in this story, represents sweetness, healing, and truth. I love how honey is a symbol of truth, because truth is so absolutely profound and meaningful throughout this whole book. Lily arrives at the Boatwright sisters house, which is a thriving business of Black Madonna Honey. And where there is honey, there is the truth. Later in the story, August reveals the truth of the story of Lily’s mother and it is a great watershed of the book. The revealing of the truth in this book is such an important part of the plot and the story that it is beautiful how one of the main symbols represents such an important aspect of this story. The honey house also brings lots of sweet moments, feelings, and relationships into Lily’s life. The symbolism of the honey representing sweetness reflects how much sweetness and loving feelings Lily has towards the Boatwright sisters, Zach, Rosaleen, the Daughters of Mary, Neil, and everyone she meets in Tiburon, South Carolina. It is such a huge shift of feelings and experiences from Lily’s abusive father, T.Ray, on the peach farms to the sweet interactions she has with everyone in …show more content…

It reflects the feminine empowerment that is omnipresent within the pink house. August has a black owned business in the 1960’s, and it is so absolutely booming that she is backed up with orders, and needs Zach and everyone else to help her out with orders. That is not an easy task for a black woman in the 1960’s. The fact that the Daughters of Mary and the Boatwright sisters worship something that expresses something within them is wonderful. They use the Black Mary as a crucial proponent of their spiritual journey forward, and look to her in times of hardship. Mary is also said to be the paragon of a very nurturing, abundant, and loving maternal figure. There are mother figures that enter Lily’s life that represent these traits of The Black Mary. I believe that the significance of The Black Mary is most definitely tied to the fact that Lily’s mother left her life when she was little. This mother figure enters her life as her original mother figure leaves her life. The Black Mary is the backbone of feminine strength and love, and she propels the character’s journey through life, self-discovery, and acceptance

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