In the book, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, August and Rosaleen unawarely found themselves as a mother figure for Lily Owens. After losing her mother, Lily was lost. She found herself resulting to the comfort of bees as a source of love. After her mom’s death, Rosaleen, her house keeper began to treat Lily as her own. As the book continued Lily met August, a motherly bee keeper that Lily found intriguing.
Lily ending up at her mother’s previous home was so unlikely, nearly impossible. In the real world, Lily would not have been accepted into their home so easily either. In conclusion, some parts of “The Secret Life of Bees” probably would not occur in the real
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
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.
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
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a novel about race, faith, and growing up in the American South in the 1960s. The story follows Lily Owens, a 14-year-old girl from Sylvan, South Carolina, and her struggles with not only struggles with the usual hardships associated with growing up, but also an abusive father and a dead mother. After being pushed to the limit by her father, she runs away from home with her “stand-in mother” to the town of Tiburon, South Carolina, having seen it on the back of an image of a honey label her real mother had owned. She is taken in by the eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters and is immersed into their world of bees, honey, and the Black Mary. Through Lily’s interactions with the sisters and her
Have you ever been curious about someone that you went to great lengths to learn more about? Well, a girl named Lily from the book “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd always wanted to know more about her mother as she died when she was very young. The only person that could possibly have told her anything was Ray, her father. But the relationship between Lily and her father was not so great. He never cared about what she wanted and would pay little to no attention.
“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.
The story states, “Lily can have a home here for as long as she wants," August said”(Monk Kidd 427). This shows August telling T-Ray, Lily’s dad, that she can live with her for however long she wants. This also shows that August gave Lily a home when she didn’t want to go live with her abusive dad. August gave Lily support and a place to live. This shows that August had the most impact on Lily’s growth and development because without August, Lily would be homeless.
That's what I've been trying to do.” (340). August knew that Lily wasn’t going to be ready to hear all the news. So she waited it out, she helped her become stronger, helped her become more independent, she cared for her and when it came to the right time she shared what needed to be told. The story states, “You know, some things don’t matter that much, Lily.
In most relationships, they need 3 main things to be successful. Communication, respect, & support are the most important factors in having a healthy relationship. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the characters Lily & Zach have been gaining attraction & feelings towards one another. The only thing that’s stopping them from getting into a relationship, is mixed feelings about whether they should pursue one or not. The book takes place in 1964 and there's bias opinions about their race & Zach could potentially get harmed for being in a relationship with a white woman.
This quest for understanding leads Lily to the Boatwright sisters, who offer her a sense of belonging and connection rooted in their shared history. For instance, August Boatwright becomes a maternal figure to Lily, guiding her through the complexities of her own identity while imparting lessons gleaned from generations of family wisdom. She told her to come sit with her as she told her a story that her “mother used to tell [the sisters] when [they] got tired of their chores” to hopefully help them continue going (Kidd, 90). Lily denied she was tired of her chores, but she still thought it was a “good story” and she should “just listen” (Kidd
The novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd opens in South Carolina during the 1960s, in the towns of Sylvan and Tiburon. The main protagonist Lily Melissa Owens, life has been shaped around her blurred memory of her mother, Deborah, after she was killed. When Lily’s black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, is arrested for insulting three racist men in their town of Sylvan. Then, Lily decides to spring them both free: herself escaping her neglectful and abusive father, T. Ray, and helping Rosaleen escape from the jail. The duo then escape to Tiburon - a town that they believes holds the secret to the past of her mother.
Lastly, Lily finally builds up the courage to stand up to her father. She does this by saying, “I said I’m not leaving” (296). For Lily’s whole life, she was blamed for her mother’s death especially by her father. He is a terrible father to her because he mentally and physically abuses her, and makes her feel
The female love and comfort that exists within the group is threatened by the coexistence of men. Zach and Otis being the notable exceptions in the novel, Kidd portrays men as detrimental to the functioning of the group and harmful in their attitude, both mentally and physically. It is men, such as T-Ray, that speak lies and inhibit personal growth that are Lily’s very reasons for fleeing towards the warmth of August’s society of women and it’s this same group that protects Lily in her later confrontation with T-Ray with the power of the female group proving victorious in the end, showcasing the strength and power that is possible when women unite: “'Good riddance,' he [T-Ray] said, and moved toward the door. We had to open up our little wall of women to let him through.” When questioned on her refusal to marry, August cites her love of her freedom as effective reason.
