Lily Owens In The Secret Life Of Bees

The character who changed the most in the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, was Lily Owens. Firstly, Lily’s change stems from her abnormal relationship with T. Ray. T. Ray abuses Lily. Sue Monk Kidd writes when Lily is punished with grits, “I swayed from knee to knee, hoping for a second or two of relief, but the pain cut deep into my skin” (24). This punishment physically hurt Lily, and aided to the constant physical abuse performed by T. Ray. From the beginning of Lily’s life, she is afraid of doing wrong to avoid horrible punishments. Therefore, Lily believed that she is unloved. Secondly, Lily’s actions motivated change. The moment when Lily finally told August Boatwright the startling truth about her past, is the moment she learns to trust

The opening quote of chapter ten, from The Dancing Bees, states, “Threatened by all kinds of dangers during their foraging flights, many workers die before they have reached even that age” (189). Bees face many dangers within their lives, resulting in early deaths. To start, May’s faces dangers too. Although, unlike the bees, her dangers include depression and sorrow. May feels the pain of the world. Kidd writes, “Everything just comes into her [May]--all the suffering out there--and she feels as if it is happening to her” (95). May cannot differentiate between her own pain and that of the world’s. Because of this, sadness has become a daily thing in May’s life. May and the bees are challenged with many problems daily. To finish, May, like bees, had an early death. May kills herself after finding out Zach is in prison. Her suicide note read, as Kidd writes, “I’m tired of carrying around the weight of the world. I’m just going to lay it down now. It’s my time to die, and it’s your time to live” (210). May ended her life because of the hardships she faced. Her early death is evidenced by May telling her sisters that it is their time to live. Both May and worker bees have early deaths. To conclude, the bee quotes Sue Monk Kidd used in her novel, The Secret Life of Bees, have a deeper