ipl-logo

The Secret Life Of Bees Rosaleen Character Analysis

193 Words1 Pages
Through indirect characterization, Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees, displays Rosaleen as an obstinate character in order to exhibit the southern racism at hand. For example, Rosaleen is indirectly characterized when she comes into contact with the town’s most notorious racist, Franklin Posey, and will not apologize for standing up for her beliefs. Recalling the event, she exclaims, “‘he hit me till the policeman said that was enough. They didn’t get no apology, though’” (46). Above all, Rosaleen is stuck living in the south during the 1960s; a time period full of extreme racial tension. She is facing ridicule and name-calling simply because of her skin color, but nonetheless stands up and fights back against this injustice.
Show More
Related
481 Words | 2 Pages

When they looked up, I watched their faces go from surprise to anger, then outright fury.” (Kidd 32)It was very rude for the men to make fun of her size and race but it was the 1960s and most people were racist. Rosaleen pushed the boundaries when she poured her black spit across their shoe and to make it worse, she just had to do it on one of the most racist people in the town. Another example in

Read More
147 Words | 1 Pages

If you think raising a family is full of challenges, then you should try raising a farm. Generally speaking you don’t eat your kids, but in Novella Carpenter’s case, her animals were her children. In obstacle, she learns the ins and outs of farming, all while devolving as a person. Carpenter informs her readers of the relations ships she made both in Oakland and the garden. She dealt with life and death around and within the garden.

Read More
253 Words | 2 Pages

In The Secret Life of Bees, author Sue Monk Kidd alludes to the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement to highlight the racism of the time period and explain why white people in Tiburon had trouble with the concept of Lily staying at a colored house. Although Lily is comfortable at August’s pink house, she is unable to be sheltered from the racist views from the outside world. One day while watching television, she learns of “an integration parade in St. Augustine that got attacked by a mob of white people…” (88). Here, Lily is being informed of a Florida parade in which activists marched together in support of integrating the public schools. Their peaceful demonstrations were violently crushed by Ku Klux Klan members, who believed that white

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

In the excerpt from the opening of The Beet Queen , Louise Endrich, portays Karl and Mary as an addition and subtraction to the town of Argus. Louise Endrich shows the role the environment plays which has an impact on how the two children are viewed through literary devices such as, imagery, her point of view, and selection of detail. Every day people are affected by the environment in which they are in. Everyone is affected differently by their surroundings just how Karl and Mary were affected differently by arriving at Argus. How people react to the situations they are put in exhibits their qualities and ability to handle tough situations.

Read More
1713 Words | 7 Pages

Rosa lived in a time when segregation, and racism were common in America, and she was constantly beset with issues concerning her race. Concerning her response to conflict, Tavaana states, “It was there that Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to vacate her seat in the middle of the bus so that a white man could sit in her place. She was arrested for her civil disobedience. Parks' arrest, a coordinated tactic meant to spark a grassroots movement, succeeded in catalyzing the Montgomery bus boycott”. Risking punishment, Rosa Parks chose to be brave, and in doing this, she gained control over an important aspect in her life: her freedom to choose what she needs and wants.

Read More
1529 Words | 7 Pages

Parks “rejected all the assumptions about her place in the world” (Ulrich 663). In today’s world, it is hard to live as a minority, but in the 1950’s it was an even greater challenge. Not only was Rosa Parks an African American, but also a female. For Parks to speak out against the social standards of the time was unheard of. Ulrich has become comparable to Rosa Parks for the modern day time period, by speaking out and expressing her views to the extent that they are heard across the country.

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

Rosa was sitting in a front seat that normally belonged to those of white skin. When a white woman entered the bus and asked Rosa to move Rosa told her “No”. Rosa was later arrested but she now serves as a hero to America for her bravery. It can be very difficult to be different in a world that is so similar, but sometimes it can be as easy as sitting down in a world that all stands

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout The Secret Life of Bees bees play a recurring role in the novel, repeatably being mentioned during the novel in epigrams before the start of each chapter and within the story itself. Unfortunately, on certain occasions the reason why bees are included in a certain part of the story can be unclear and confusing to readers, causing them to occasionally misinterpret the importance of bees throughout the novel. Regardless, the bees throughout play a very important role in understanding many of the themes and symbolism that Kidd included within the novel. In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd symbolizes Lily’s experiences and situations through the bees frequently present in the novel to show that seemingly different things can function in the same way.

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

One hundred years later people were still struggling with unity among the races. Whites only signs were plastered all over towns. People were segregated due skin color, but there were people like Rosa Parks who stood for what they believed in. After a long day Rosa was tired, her feet hurt and she was fed up with sitting in the back, so she did what no one had done, she sat in the whites only section. Because it was the 1960’s this caused an outrage, Rosa was arrested.

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

The Secret Lives of People The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, is an interesting story that connects human lives to bees. The story takes place in 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement and fourteen year-old Lily Owens leaves her abusive father and her home in Sylvan, South Carolina to go to Tiburon with hopes to find information on her mother. Throughout the story, Lily struggles with many internal conflicts and also meets several mother figures along the way.

Read More
1277 Words | 6 Pages

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed and passed the Civil Rights Act. This law prohibited discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion and national origin. This highlighted event also occurred in the novel with the quote “‘Today, July second, 1964,’ he said, ‘the president of the United States signed the Civil Rights Act into law in the East Room of the White House…’(20).” This news made Rosaleen joyful and probably made other African American delighted in the real world. It is a great improvement to the long effect of racial

Read More
302 Words | 2 Pages

In the Bildungsroman, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily, the young motherless protagonist, exists in a life which lacks love and care, but with an act of rebellion, alters the entire course of her life. After enduring cruel punishments from a sadist father, Lily accepts this as the way of life she must live. However, after a crucial moment, Lily begins to consider the idea of freedom from her oppressive life; she realizes this when she and Rosaleen, her substitute mother, come under arrest for disrupting the public and Terrence, her father, would only take Lily out of jail. This is a pivotal moment as Lily a heated conversation with her father and exclaims, “You don’t scare me”(Kidd 38). Her brash action to rebel against her father

Read More
1392 Words | 6 Pages

She was a woman with an amazing purpose. Rosa risked her life to stand up for what she believed in. In the racist timeline that she lived in, she still decided she had enough. Even though she didn’t appreciate the praise, she still always and forever will deserve being remembered as one of the many great african-american warriors of our time. Even though she didn’t fight in an actual war, she still fought for something near to her heart.

Read More
1440 Words | 6 Pages

The act of racial discrimination impacts innocent people's lives in numerous, negative ways; hence why multiple people, worldwide can not tolerate racism and discrimination. The novel written by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, displays a wide range of scenarios where racism results in suffering. Rosaleen, a black woman, will never forget how three white men negatively impact her life; she will remain scarred unto death. Also, ever since the racial incident involving April and her twin, May, pain is constantly accompanying April; consequently, she commits suicide. Finally, when May loses April, she endures all the various sufferings of the world, including racial discrimination.

Read More
983 Words | 4 Pages

“A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love” (Connie May Fowler). This quote reflects the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd because the protagonist in the story, Lily Owens, her mother have died when she was four years old and she didn’t feel loved by her abusive father, T. Ray Owens, until she met the Boatwrights family with the housekeeper, Rosaleen, and stayed with them. The Boatwrights family are the three black sisters who are August, May, and June. This novel took place in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily grew up and where she found the answer to her questions.

Read More

More about The Secret Life Of Bees Rosaleen Character Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document