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The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

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In the historic fiction novel “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily wants a mother more than anything in the world. But her past holds her back from love. So she runs away to three loving African american women who show her what a mother is and how she had always had one. In the book “The Secret Life of Bees” Lily struggles to feel love without her mother. With the help of an unlikely friend, Lily finds all the love she needed right inside of her heart and soul. This shows that love comes in many different forms. One example in this novel that shows all kinds of love is when T-ray finally frees Lily. Giving his daughter a better life. Lily then knows that there is love surrounding her. Coming from all the African American women ready to embrace her and give her a chance at life. This passage shows how they are all there for her, ready to do whatever she needs. “ This is the moment I remember clearest of all. How I stood in the driveway looking back at them. The sight of them standing there waiting. All these women, all this love, waiting. I looked one last …show more content…

This is the forbidden moment that connected Lily with the mother she had always had, but never noticed. “ I reached out and traced black Mary’s heart with my finger. I stood with the petals on my toes, and pressed my palm flat and hard against her heart. I live in a hive of darkness, and you are my mother, I told her. You are the mother of thousands,”(184). This passage shows Lily embracing the love of a mother in forms she thought impossible. For all she craved was a mother figure, but what she got was so much better. This is because Mary will stay with her for the long run. Giving love support and strength along the way. Being more of a mother than Lily could have asked for. Which ties in with the thesis that in life love has no restrictions, reaching you even in your darkest

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In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily’s journey is related to our school motto: “Monstra Matrem: Show Thyself a Mother” because she was looking for a mother’s love. Specifically, the motto describes a request for maternal care and to live in the spirit of caring. For example, Lily describes her daydreams when she says, “I used to have daydreams in which she was white and married T. Ray, and became my real mother.” (Kidd 12). This quote shows how Lily wishes Rosaleen was her legal mother since she was the only female figure in Lily’s life at the time.

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On the first page of the novel, “The Secret Life of Bees” the Heroine of the book, Lily Owens, declared that, “my life went spinning off into a whole new orbit,” (page 1) we as readers have no clue whatsoever what she is talking about. Lily seems like a child with a normal life but that can easily be proven wrong; at the age of four she happen to kill her mother without knowing it and has a father in which can be a bit brutal at times. Despite everything, Lily is a lady who loved to learn things about her mother every chance she got, it was clear she had love for Deborah, no doubt, even if she didn’t have any memories of her. An example that perfectly demonstrates this is the argument Lily and T. Ray had: Lily declared that Deborah wouldn’t

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Bee’s Essay Lily relates to the bees in many ways throughout the book, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. She relates to the bees because she deals with separation, threats, and insecurities. First, if the queen dies the colony dies and eventually the colony falls apart. When Lily’s mother was packing her bags to leave T-Ray, he saw her and they got into a violent fight.

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A young girl, who killed her mother and wants to know more about her, changes the 14 year old’s life for a long period of time. In the novel, Lily has lived with some heavy burdens on her shoulders. She has to overcome these things and tell the truth even if she doesn’t want to. In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, “The Secret Life of Bees,” Lily has a coming of age moment when she tells August the truth about everything. She decides to tell August the truth as shown through these things: telling her she is unlovable, how she was angry with what she heard, getting the items she has had.

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In the very first chapter of The Secret Life of Bees, Lily describes her mother, beginning what will be an overall theme throughout the novel. Lily suffers tremendous guilt for killing her mother, and at night she dreams of dying, meeting her mother in heaven, and asking for her forgiveness. Lily has little doubt that her mother will kiss her and forgive her for 10,000 years. Later in the novel, when August tells Lily

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“Oftentimes. when people are miserable, they will want to make other people miserable, too. But it never helps.” (Snicket). When someone is struggling or feeling distress, that person will most likely make another person feel the same way.

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The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Point of view, narrative voice--Be specific about the narrator and include as many details as possible: This book is told in the first person. The narrator of the story is Lily Owens. Lily is a girl that runs away from home and lives on a honey farm. First person point of view was a good choice for this book because of the type of story it is. This story is a bildungsroman/coming of age story, and by having the story told from Lily’s perspective, we’re able to get a deeper look into her mind.

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In the book, “The Secret Life of the Bees” Lily Owens suffers the guilt from the loss of her mother. Growing up was difficult for lily as she struggled with the abuse of her father and being socially awkward at school. Lily finds influential characters throughout her childhood years. Rosaleen her housekeeper is known in lily's life as her stand-in mother after lily's mother's death. Lily is often dreaming of being Rosaleen adoptive child.

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Nearly 20 million kids grow up without a mother. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily lost her mother at age four and had a father who hated her. Lily accidentally shot her mother at a young age, and ever since her father blames her for what happened. Lily decides to run away with her house maid, Rosaleen, and start a new life. Change can really affect a person, just like it did with Lily, T-Ray and May. Change is a crucial part of life.

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In the novel, The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily, the main character and May, one of the Boatwright sisters are conflicted with many events. One of the life lessons that were in this novel was, family, is a big part of who you are or who you turn out to be. Lily and May are the characters whose family is a big factor in who they are. In the beginning, Lily is a very intelligent, mischievous, girl. This is caused by, her dad who she calls T.Ray making her kneel on grits (crushed corn) even if she really didn’t do anything.

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“I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It’s a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s an evolution of the heart.” (Kidd)

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Soon after moving in with the Calendar Sisters, Lily realizes the strength and power of women. The structure of the pink house is similar to one of a beehive. In a hive, “males are reared only at the times of year when their presence is required” (67). Similarly, the Calendar Sisters’ home is ran by women and thrives without the help of men. By living with examples of strong female leaders, Lily learns the true strength of women which ultimately helps her find the courage to stand up to T.Ray and thrive without his fathering.

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Throughout this passage, Kidd uses tone several times to express how Lily feels about her mother's

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August explains to Lily that “Our Lady is not some magical being out there somewhere, like a fairy godmother. She’s not the statue in the parlor. She's something inside of you” (Kidd 288). The use of simile in comparing Mary to a magical being, like a fairy godmother, adds a childish undertone to August’s dialogue, and shows that regardless of what Lily has been through, August recognizes that she is still a child, one in search of comfort in the absence of her mother. The symbolism of Our Lady being “inside” of Lily and not just “the statue in the parlor” gives her a sense of belonging.

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Lily was born and raised in a small town in South Carolina where racism was practiced religiously. When Lily’s mom died her father had taken a worker from his peach farm to be a stand in mother. The worker

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