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The Secret Life Of Bees Lily Coming Of Age

459 Words2 Pages

Growing up. One of the most difficult things someone has to do, but everyone goes through it. A universal experience, Coming of age creates who we are and who we become. Lily from the book/movie The Secret Life of Bees is a big character who has faced coming of age. She lost her mother at the age of 4 and had an abusive father. Mercutio is a character from the play Romeo and Juliet he goes through coming of age with his wittiness and how he cares for others such as Romeo. Both learn about the importance of love, forgiveness, and the power of a community.
Lily a white girl in the 1960s goes through a significant coming-of-age journey throughout the novel The Secret Life of Bees. Lily carries the burden of shooting and killing her mother and she is not very close with her distant and abusive father. Lily and her caretaker Rosaleen began a journey to Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily tries to find a sense of belonging and discover more about her mother. In Tiburon, Lily finds independence and a sense of self. May, June, and August take care of Lily and Rosaleen just as they did Lily's mother Deborah. The Boatwrites help Lily heal from her past trauma and Lily helps the sisters with their beekeeping and honey business. In the end, Lily realizes that she has a family and she does not need her …show more content…

Mercutio is a close friend of Romeo he is seen with wit, humor, and a quick temper. He is very independent and refuses to let others' expectations have a constraint on him. Mercutio begins to understand himself through interactions with other characters such as Romeo, he begins to find his place in the world. He has a deep commitment to himself and his identity disregarding the social norms. Even though he is a great character it gets to the best of him and leads to his death against Tybalt. Even though Mercutio is dead throughout some of the play he still lives

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There were many violent ends within the play that all began with Romeo and Juliet’s forbidden love, and one was the passing of five characters. Mercutio was a relative to the prince and as such he was untouchable. On the other hand he also subtly chose sides. Being friends with the Montagues was the beginning of the road to his death. He was an extremely witty person within the play constantly making jokes, but he also had a vivid imagination coming up with eloquent stories for the trio to hear.

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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.

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Although Lily did suffer a great loss from losing her mom, she gained so much more with the love and support that the Boatwrights and their group gave her. She has gained friends, someone to look up to, and the sense of family from all of them. Without the loss of her mom and the abuse of her dad she would never of gotten the experience of such powerful female role models and a new

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At the beginning of the novel, Lily lives with her father, who she calls T-Ray. Her mother died when she was young, and now she only has her father and Rosaleen to live with her and to raise her. T-Ray convinces Lily to think that her mother left them, not that she died. T-Ray told Lily, “‘The truth is your mother ran off and left you’” (39). Rosaleen takes care of Lily.

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When Lily finally stands up for herself against T-Ray, he says to her, “The truth is, your sorry mother ran off and left you. The day she died, she’d come back to get her things, that’s all. You can hate me all you want, but she’s the one who left you” (Kidd 39). The cruel truth and the way he tells her breaks Lily’s heart. As a consequence, she runs away with Rosaleen to be in a place where her mother had been.

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Lily leaves the person who makes her life miserable, her father, and finds a new family full of goodness and love. Her desertion of the old life she had lets her have happiness. It is not too often that being rebellious and unlawful will lead to greater joy and a true family, but this novel illustrates the idea that there will be times when you must look at the big picture of life. In certain cases you will have to solve problems and follow your heart. You have to work at having a good life, and whatever is required to make that happen should be a

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Her father, whom she loves, never shows any affection for her, and she has reason to believe that her mother, whom she so desperately wants to have loved her, abandoned her before Lily accidentally killed her. This complicated relationship to love leaves her without a clear idea of whether love can be a positive force in life at all, and she reaches the extreme, negatively charged opinion that the fiery passion of love destroys the world. Later in the novel, when Lily learns that love is not only about rejection and longing, her opinion of love softens a great deal, although she never recants on these poignant, passionate

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Lily’s mother is the cause of much of her grief, through her journey she imagines her mother in a way that does not accurately depict who her mother truly was. When she finds out what her mother actually was she, “I stood

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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

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Tired of lying to August, Lily decides to tell the truth to her, and find out about her mother, Deborah, hoping to hear exactly what she had pictured. As Lily unfolds the truth about her mother’s past, she becomes frustrated learning that she wasn’t up to her expectations. Lily wishes that her mother had “been smart enough, or loving enough, to realize everybody has burdens that crush them, only they don't give up their children” (278). Furious, she believes her mother is a blind and foolish person who doesn't know what love is. Hurt by the truth, Lily realizes that “once you know the truth, you can't ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies.

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Throughout the whole play both Romeo and Mercutio were there for each other when in need of a friend or even just some comforting words. Mercutio always seems to say the right things to put Romeo back on track and in focus. While Romeo was relentlessly weeping over his unrequited love for Rosaline, Mercutio, with his wise and caring words said, “‘Why is not this not better than groaning for love? Now art thou sociable.

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Lily seems to have a happy ending. The story ends “happily ever after”, the problem is solved right away. Lily’s life became bliss once she lets everything go. Lily was able to forgive herself and both of her parents. and as a result was blessed with a beautiful life filled with the love that she so needed and deserved.

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