All through this novel, every section starts with a quote from a book about honey bees, by perusing these opening quotes one associated with me in a more deeper way. In the first chapter we take a flashback ten years back to when Lily was four. Lily lives with her abusive father who mostly takes his anger out on her since Deborah left, but recently her mother came back to bring her little girl with her and separate from her father T-Ray. The quote from section one expresses, “The Queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness” (1). I feel all throughout the book Deborah represents the …show more content…
One illustration is the point at which her Mother died, T-Ray wound up plainly emotionless and extremely intense. This influences Lily in a way because now she now gets verbally and physically abused by her dad a considerable measure. This affects her feelings towards her dad as a result of being defeated and not able to stand up to him. Another way that Deborah leaving has influenced Lily is presently she does not get a ton of empathy and love in life. For instance, when her dad turns out to be exceptionally disillusioned in her or distraught at her, he chooses to rebuff her. As their Housemaid Rosaleen finds her kneeling in the grits, Kidd says, “How long did he keep you on those grits? I shrugged. Maybe an hour” (25). Lily has been kneeling on grits since she was six which was just a couple of years after her mother just had passed on, you are able to see that it has taken an emotional and physical toll on Lilly and her Father T-Ray because he takes his anger on her being gone out on Lily. Taking everything into account, as Deborah fled from home and passed away it took a major emotional and physical toll on Lily and her
T-Ray character is harsh and cruel after Lily's mother died. Without a mother Lily does not have any support exept Rosaleen who "wants" to protect her but doesn't want to get beaten by T-Ray. When Lily's mother was around, T-Ray's character might have been nicer to lily than before. But he still had attiude with Lily before the aciddent. "Get into your god damn room!". This quote shows that T-Ray's charcter still had some attuide towards Lily. When Lily's mother died, T-Ray had more power to punish Lily with harder conditions. "T-Ray never believed in slumpber parties or the junoir varisty cheerleading." This illustrates how Lily's mother could of changed her life even thoughout the misery of T-Ray. T-Ray's character now is selfish and does
As strong, independent, self-driven individuals, it is not surprising that Chris McCandless and Lily Owens constantly clashed with their parents. In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, Chris was a twenty-four-year-old man that decided to escape the materialistic world of his time for a life based on the simplistic beauty of nature. He graduated at the top of his class at Emory University and grew up in affluent Annandale, Virginia, during the early 1980’s. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily was a fourteen-year-old girl who grew up in the 1960’s, a time when racial equality was a struggle. She had an intense desire to learn about her deceased mother. Her nanny, Rosaleen, with whom she grew very close over the years, raised Lily with little help from her abusive father. When her father failed to help Rosaleen after three white men hospitalized her, Lily was hysterical. Later, Lily decided to break Rosaleen out of the hospital and leave town for good. While there are differences between Chris McCandless and Lily Owens, they share striking similarities. Chris McCandless’ and Lily Owens’s inconsistencies of forgiveness with their parents resulted in damaged relationships and an escape into the unknown.
I really was impacted by T. Ray’s quote during the height of the tension about Lily’s past mistakes, “ ‘It was you who did it, Lily. You didn’t mean it, but it was you’ ” (Kidd 299). This moment was one of my favorites because it showed the growth the lead character had made toward not only forgiving her mother, but forgiving herself. When Lily chases after her father to finally get the raw truth about the fateful day her mom died, it reveals that she is finally ready to come to terms with her past, no matter what really happened. At the beginning of the book, she can’t accept her mother’s death, her disappearance, and her lack of love from her parents. Coincidentally, she grasps at any excuse to punish herself because she is unsure of who she is.
Barbara Jordan, who is a leader of the Civil Rights movement, once believed “we, as human beings must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.” Discrimination is a topic often found in the literature and is discussed in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a documentary trailer My So-Called Enemy directed by Lisa Gossels and a short-story “What of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?” by Etgar Keret. Those who believe that accepting others from different racial backgrounds will make the world a better place; meanwhile, there are others who refuse to accept others or being disagreed with the quotes of Barbara Jordan, they think the opposite direction of the people who are agreed with the quotes. I agree with Barbara Jordan that we, as a human beings, can accept others who are different than ourselves because we are sharing a common root of the Mother Earth; thus, we can learn to treat others with kindness and respect, and be more understanding of the differences in others.
Themes such as motherhood, racism, and the bees’ hardwork are included in The Secret Life of Bees,written by Susan Monk Kidd, in order to show and highlight the hard times that the each character faced. This novel highlights Lily’s path from a child to young adult. She now sees with more clarity in subjects of racism and her new family. Her path started innocent and uneducated and ended up being very whole and educated. In Lily’s growth throughout this novel, her trials and tribulations were shown. In The Secret Life of Bees, there are many words and phrases referenced and used that stay full of wisdom, courage, and female
The overall message of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is motherhood. Motherhood was used throughout the novel. The director remains true to the main theme. She enhances the theme by frequently reminiscing, the memories of the character mother in each chapter. The main character name is Lily Owens and she holds a very dark secret. When she was young her parents got into a huge altercation. Lily’s mom grabbed a gun from the bed. While Lilly’s mom was trying to get the gun, Lily’s dad T. Ray grabbed the gun from her and dropped it. Lily’s mom was yelling at Lily to get the gun so she can hand it to her. But, as young Lily was, she accidently shot her mother and she died at the scene. When she grew older, it began to haunt her more and more each day. In the novel it states that “Just put it out of you head, Lily. It was an accident. You didn’t mean to do it…Mother, forgive. Please forgive” (Kidd 3). This shows that this incident really affected Lily tremendously
Within this world, people become self-governed after going through difficult times. In this novel, a fourteen-year-old white girl, Lily Owen’s, determination leads her to find contentment and another self-ruled woman, August Boatwright. After running away from home, Lily meets August and her two black sisters who maintain a large apiary to produce honey. Although some people work efficiently together, independent persons seek true happiness with their experiences as shown in the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Throughout the novel, Lily and August prove the importance of independence by managing their lives and taking care of their loved ones.
As the epigraph for chapter 14 states, “A queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community; there may be a mournful wail or lament from within… Without intervention, the colony will die. But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant changes take place” (277) The initial changes with the introduction the new queen seem insignificant, but they are anything but. It begins with Lily taking over May’s old room. It is extremely symbolic of her fulfilling the role left empty in the house. Then, August stood up to T. Ray for Lily to ensure that she would stay in the house with her, effectively keeping her safe, and under her watchful eye, just as she had with May. Many other changes, large and small occur as Lily transfers to her new role, but each is significant to the bee symbolism.
The Secret Life of Bees has plentiful characters that represent someone you may know, or even yourself. Sue Monk Kidd reveals real issues that we are still facing in society today. One of these issues comes in one of the most significant quote by is stated by August. She states, “People can start out one way, and by the time life gets through with them they end up completely different” (248). Three characters that represent this quote are May, June, and Rosaleen. Ultimately, Sue Monk Kidd included these characters to display that it is acceptable for a human to grief in their own way, and to respect others in their time of grief.
I think the author believes that the biggest mistake that children make as they attempt to mature in the world around them is that they do so many actions without thinking about what could happen as a result of what they do. I know this by how Lily Owens acts during the story. A time that this happens during the story is when Lily decides to leave his father and learn more about her mother, who was accidentally killed by Lily when she was a toddler. Her reasoning for this is that she hates how she is treated by her father, T-Ray, and how horrid his punishments could be to her. For example, she gets scrapes on her knee caps from kneeling on top of bread grits as a constant punishment put on by T-Ray for doing things like going outside of the
Having a defeatist attitude can be harmful in a person’s life because it can hold a person from reaching their true potential in life. A defeatist attitude can also cause others to distance themselves from the person with this type of attitude. In the book The Glass Bees by Ernst Jünger, Captain Richard, the gallant cavalryman, is depicted as a smart, prideful, and honorable man. He served for his country as a light cavalryman, but due to his defeatist attitude he was never promoted to more than an instructor and tank inspector. He married his lovely wife Teresa who loved him very much but unlike Richard she refused to give up on his true potential. However, he was not happy how his life turned out to be. Do to his defeatist attitude he was never promoted to a higher rank like his other
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around” (Leo Buscaglia). Caring for those in difficult situations can be very beneficial to people in times of struggle. Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird, Friar Lawrence of Romeo and Juliet, and August Boatwright of The Secret Life of Bees show just how much being there for someone can impact that person’s life for the better.
Every person on Earth needs to eat food, and in order to get this food we have to grow it or tend livestock. But, imagine a world without half the plants and crops we have now.
The bees symbolize Lily’s unspoken guides throughout the novel. Kidd’s constant reference to the bees indicate that Lily eventually understands the importance of female power in the bee community, which she connects to her own life. When Lily initially sees the bees in her room, Rosaleen warns her that they can sting her if she tries to catch them, but Lily ignores her and continues to trap them, thus asserting her determination. Later, the bees reveal the message to Lily that she should leave her father. Kidd notes that one bee landed on Lily’s state map that she kept tacked on the wall, foreshadowing Lily and Rosaleen’s journey to Tiburon (10). The bees also symbolize the secret life that Lily lives as she hides her secret of running away from home. The hive represents society while the bees represent all of the humans inside. August tells Lily about the hives and announces, “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about” (Kidd 148). The beehive cannot sur...
The Apis Mellifera, or honey bee, have survived on this planet for fifty million years. This species of bee is responsible for pollinating flowers, grass, trees and crops around the world. Much of the food we eat is dependent on honey bees for pollination. Our ecosystem depends on the survival of the honey bee. Colonies of honeybees have been disappearing at an alarming rate around the world due to parasites, viral and bacterial diseases, and the introduction of pesticides and herbicides. Over the past six years, on average, 30 percent of all the honey bee colonies in the U.S. died off over the winter of 2012(NPR/TED). If this trend continues to spiral downward, honey bees will disappear from the world. We must understand the importance of the Honey bee and change our environmental practices in order to sustain this vital insect.