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The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

418 Words2 Pages

Have you ever felt like a lost bee, buzzing around with a broken wing, searching for a place to belong? That’s what happens in “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd. Lily Owens, the main character, runs away from home after a series of unfortunate events and her abusive father T.Ray. After searching for something related to her mother, Lily stumbles upon the Boatwrights house where August, the head of the Boatwrights, takes Lily in. Overall, August has most influenced Lily's growth and development. She showed Lily what it means to be loved and appreciated, along with helping her cope with her trauma. One reason why August has most influenced Lily’s growth and development is that she helped her cope with her trauma. As stated in the article, …show more content…

It doesn't take a wizard to see how Zach loves you. And every one of the Daughters loves you. And June, despite her ways, loves you, too” (Monk Kidd 349). August does her best to comfort Lily during their private conversation, exclaiming that she’s lovable, and that she shouldn’t be so down on herself. August reassures Lily, saying that every person she has met in their home loves them, even June. This is something only a mother could do, reinforcing the fact that August cares for Lily. "There is nothing perfect," August said from the doorway. There is only life in this world. "(Monk Kidd 369) This highlights the invaluable maternal comfort August provides Lily. Therefore, the way August has most influenced Lily’s growth and development is by helping her cope with her trauma. Another way August has most influenced Lily’s growth and development is by showing her she’s loved and appreciated. There were multiple times throughout the story where August had taken Lily out to help her with daily routines and the bee’s. As stated in the text, "I hadn't been out to the hives before, so to start off she gave me a lesson in what she called "bee yard etiquette."" This inclusion suggests that August sees Lily as part of the family and values her

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It doesn’t take a wizard to see Zach loves you. And every one of the Daughters loves you” (Kidd 242). August makes Lily feel better and clears her conscience about her mother. Later in the story, Lily gets confirmation she did kill her mother from T-Ray, but, because August talked to Lily, she was not completely distraught. In conclusion, August impacts Lily in a good way and helps her with her mom.

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August wanted to share the stories she was told about the Lady of Chains and of how Mary was discovered. She wants to spread her knowledge to others, so her religious beliefs and knowledge will be told throughout many generations, like when the Mary statue came into possession of her family. August told Lily that she never wanted to get married because she felt that she had “enough restrictions in . . . [her] life” (145). Living within the civil right time period african americans did not have enough freedom.

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It is evident that bees serve as a symbol in Lily’s life due to the guidance and comfort they provide Lily, the roles they both serve, and feelings such as loss Lily and the bees both experience. Humans need the same necessities as bees in order not to

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Lily brought a chick home and it made a mess, T.ray threatened to boil the chick but Rosaleen saved it. Rosaleen was the only one defending Lily in her younger years and was always protecting her from T.R.A. Rosaleen was always there for Lily when no one else was. Even with Rosaleen helping Lily in her younger years, August filled the same role at the house, and even made a bigger impact on her for the short time she was in her life compared to Rosaleen. August taught Lily how to be a beekeeper while teaching her many life lessons, she was also the one to tell her about her mom and had a bigger role in that part of the book compared to

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She was the one who revealed that Lily’s mother had stayed with them. June is very independent and stubborn. When she first met Lily she resented her because of her mother. August used to work for Lily’s mother, and June didn’t like this. After a while, June warmed up to Lily and began to like

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The secret life of bees is written by Sue Monk Kid and was published in 2002 in the United States. In 2004 the book won the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards. The genre of the book is fiction. In the beginning of every chapter there is a quote comparing human life to bees or simple facts of bees. The book consist of fourteen chapters and 302 pages.

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Even after everything that she and her mother have done to each other, Lily still forgives them both. Working with the bees taught Lily to be kind and gentle, to love the world and forgive

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When comparing Lily from when she first found out about her mom to later in the book, her growth is clearly demonstrated. This quote shows that she has forgiven herself and her mom, but she is not quite over her sadness and still struggles with it. Lily experiencing and going through what happened to her mom helped her come to terms with herself and was able to find forgiveness in her heart. She grew and matured from when she first figured out what happened to her mom. Love is a feeling that can change you completely for better or for worse.

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Although she was once a housekeeper for Lily's mother, August also graduated from college and became a high school teacher. She also decided not to marry because it would take away some of her independence, something she’ll always love more than a man. Lily has never met any woman like August Boatwright. That’s why August's most important function in the novel is to help Lily on her way to maturity and acceptance of herself as a good human being.

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In the beginning of the book, June Boatwright, August’s sister, is very hostile towards Lily, partially because of her race and also because of her distaste of Lily’s mother, the latter of which is learned later in the novel. In one scene, for example, June and Lily have a trivial fight over a house, stemming from months of built-up resentment. When they realize the pettiness of their entire quarrel, they give up on the fight, an unspoken agreement to end their rivalry. They fall back into the grass, making depressions in the earth. Lily says, “I stepped over them with the utmost care, and, seeing how careful I was, June stepped over them, too, and then, to my shock, she hugged me” (170).

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However, the main focus will be on Lily, who is now a young adult in search for answers and clarities in life. Besides growing up in an isolated environment during her early and crucial time in life, Lily has also been subjected to physical and emotional abuse by her brutal father who used to make a living by running a peach farm. Years after running off with her only mother figure, Rosaleen, and settling in a warm and welcoming household of women, Lily is still striving to find a more positive and relatable view of herself and life. In many ways, she tries to connect her past with her father and mother with the one she has created with Rosaleen and her new supportive family. Lily’s current ‘family” according to herself, consists in part of her estranged father T. Ray Owens, presumingly her deceased mother, Deborah, Rosaleen, the Boatwright sisters August, May and June, and her love interest Zachary.

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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

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She did realize in the long run her mom really loved and cared for her. While being at the Calendars Sister 's house for a while T.Ray showed up and told Lily, they were going home right away. Lily said that she refuses to go with him, then he says no one wants you here. In that moment, Lily figured out that August and everyone she met while staying in Tiburon really cared because the next thing she knew August was standing up for her and saying it would be a delight to have her live with them. Lily ended up gaining a new family without

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(Kidd 238) August’s love, compassion, and sympathy for Lily don’t directly end Lily’s suffering but they offer her comfort in her time of pain. Based on the little amount of time that Lily spent with Deborah, she believed that her mother was the perfect person that solely loved and cared for Lily. Whereas, August, being older than Lily and wiser

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Over the course of the time Lily has been staying with the sisters, she lied about having a very different life, so she wouldn’t be judged for once. She thought August believed her, but she knew who Lily was the whole time. As time went on, Lily started to feel guilt about lying to the only people that cared for her, she finally loved someone. Once she confessed to August, Lily was appalled to know that her mother left without her, with her insane father. Lily felt betrayed, “I’d spent my life imagining all the ways she’d loved me, what a perfect specimen of a mother she was.

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