More handpicked essays just for you.
The secret life of bees theme essay
Secret life of bees literary devices
The secret life of bees theme essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a realistic fiction novel that tells the story of Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl living in South Carolina, in 1964 with her father; T. Raye, and her housekeeper, Rosaleen. Lily and Rosalyn get into an argument with a couple white men. Rosaleen pours her chew on one of the white men because of their obscure comments. Times being how they were in 1964 Rosaleen was put in jail for spitting on a white man. Lily decides she needs to break Rosaleen out. I will present to you the main character’s personality, the main idea of this novel, and how I personally related to the main character. Throughout this novel Lily’s personality is shown through how she responds to what people think. Lily was that girl …show more content…
“I’ve just never heard of a Negro lawyer, that’s all. You’ve got to hear of these things before you can imagine them.” (Monk Kidd 121) Not only does this quote represent this novel it also relates back to the title. Bee's may have a great free life outside the hive, however on the inside, their work is far more complex. Just because you have never heard about something in your head does not mean it is not going on outside your head. Lots of people have disagreements with their parents. “‘What did you say?’ ‘I said I’m not leaving.’” (Monk Kidd 296) I related to this so much that when I read it I kind of smirked because it reminded me of myself. Parents and their kids definitely don’t always get along. But that is only because our minds think so differently. I have never had an argument with my parents as bad as Lily did. However, I still understand the frustration she had throughout the novel when she was with her dad. In conclusion, I think The Secret Life of Bees had an intriguing plot line, climax, and resolution. Even though I thought the novel was very fascinating I did not really enjoy the way it was written. I had to force myself to read it and it was not a pleasant time. However, once I had finished the novel I liked looking back on
People share their secret lives without even talking about them. It only takes a glance or feeling to see that others have faced similar situations and problems, some people even live parallel lives. Despite the fact that many people believe it impossible for a measly insect, like a bee, to know the pain hardships a human faces, Sue Monk Kidd proves them wrong with her book The Secret Life of Bees. In her novel she derives many of her characters from the types of bees that exist in a hive. Lily and Zach have characteristic that are akin to that of field bees, August has that nurturing personality of a nurse bee, and the Lady of Chains is revered by her subjects just like a Queen bee is by her hive. Nowadays, no one ever faces a problem that someone, or something, has already faced. No one really has a secret life all to themselves.
In life, actions and events that occur can sometimes have a greater meaning than originally thought. This is especially apparent in The Secret Life Of Bees, as Sue Monk Kidd symbolically uses objects like bees, hives, honey, and other beekeeping means to present new ideas about gender roles and social/community structures. This is done in Lily’s training to become a beekeeper, through August explaining how the hive operates with a queen, and through the experience Lily endures when the bees congregate around her.
Intro: Working around the hives; dedicated and faster with each movement. Honey drizzling in golden crevices; a family unit working together, buzzing in harmony. Bees and beehives is a significant motif in the novel Secret Life of Bees: By Sue Monk Kidd because it represents the community of women in the novel. It also represents Lily Owen’s longing and need for a mother figure in her life. And finally, it was significant because the bees lived a secret life, just as Lily and Rosaleen did in the novel.
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
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.
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.
Most people think of bees as small, pesky creatures that sting you, or as the important insect that allows our plants to grow. However, Sue Monk Kidd takes these small insects and turns them into much more in The Secret Life of Bees. The Secret Life of Bees is set in 1964 in South Carolina. The main character, Lily, is a troubled thirteen-year-old girl with a dead mother and an abusive father, which leads her to wonder if anyone really loved her. When her “stand-in mother” Rosaleen is arrested they escape to the town of Tiburon, South Carolina where they find the bee keeping Boatwright sisters August, June, and May. The bees in The Secret Life of Bees represent more than insects, they symbolize Lily’s deepest feelings, her need for a mother,
People may think they have a tough life to go through, but few can compete with Lily Owens’. At just fourteen years-old, Lily must live with her abusive father and day after day will relive the moment she killed her mother. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd she must find her true self in her journey through the book. Lily has no friends in her small town, since her father has poor fashion choices of “cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts” below her knees (8), and her knotted hair that does not get brushed often because she has no mother figure to look after her. When her housekeeper and only companion, Rosaleen, gets in trouble with three white men in their town of Sylvan, Lily makes
Anyways, Lily has also risked everything to get to Rosaleen as well. For instance, while she was in the hospital, Lily got to Rosaleen by lying her way through every security guard. The fact that Lily ran away with Rosaleen shows that she loves her and that she doesn’t want to live without her. Another
The Secret Life of Bees was the first novel published by Sue Kidd and it received many awards. She was inspired to write this novel due to her experiences of segregation as a kid. While writing the story about a young white girl, Kidd uses many symbols, imagery, and events throughout the novel to describe the segregation between whites and blacks during this time. The reader chose this novel because it was recommended by the librarian and was interested in the history.
The Secret Life of Bee's was not the best book. Throughout the book there were a few holes in the story and a lot of coincidences. With all of the coincidences in the story it was hard to imagine these events occurring in real life.
A beehive without a queen is a community headed for extinction. Bees cannot function without a queen. They become disoriented and depressed, and they stop making honey. This can lead to the destruction of the hive and death of the bees unless a new queen is brought in to guide them. Then, the bees will cooperate and once again be a prosperous community. Lily Melissa Owens, the protagonist of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, faces a similar predicament. While she does not live in a physical hive, the world acts as a hive. She must learn to work with its inhabitants, sharing a common direction, in order to reach her full potential. The motif of the beehive is symbolic of how crucial it is to be a part of a community in order to achieve
In The Secret Life of Bees, an important part of Lily learning to make choices for herself is the people that she surrounds herself with and looks up to. The story is set in the 1960s, a decade filled with segregation and racism. When Lily runs away from home and T. Ray, she brings along Rosaleen, a black woman. Lily and Rosaleen then come across a gang of white men. When the men see Rosaleen, they begin hollering at her and trying to make her react. One of them yells, “Where’re you going, nigger?” (Kidd 31). Rosaleen walks over to them and pours her snuff on their feet, and as a result her and Lily are arrested. Rosaleen is protesting the way that she is treated because of her skin color. When Lily observes Rosaleen stand up to white supremacists, she is observing someone protest their set role in society. When Lily will be forced to make decisions for herself, she will be able to remember this moment and have
The Secret Life of Bees delineates an inspirational story in which the community, friendship and faith guide the human spirit to overcome anything. The story follows Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl who desperately wants to discover the cause of her mothers death. Her father T. Ray gives her no answers, which leads their maid, Rosaleen, to act as her guardian. Together, Lily and Rosaleen run away to Tiburon, South Carolina and find a welcoming community. It is in Tiburon that Lily learns many life lessons, including many about herself. In her novel The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd explores a theme of spiritual growth through Lily's search for home as well as a maternal figure.
In the novel the Secret Life of Bees, Lily faces many obstacles which helps her become a young woman. Every major character plays an important role in Lily’s journey to maturity. By August and Rosaleen’s guidance, Lily obtains the necessary knowledge and experience needed to complete her goals and become a young woman. During the events that occur in the novel which aids Lily through her trials, she experiences female empowerment which bestows love into her life and strengthens her in order to survive the prejudiced world.