Character Analysis: Secret Life Of Bees

In the novel Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd creates a story about a fourteen year old girl, Lily, who, after losing her mother at a young age, runs away to Tiburon, South Carolina; there she meets August Boatwright and Zach Taylor who comfort Lily and eventually all become a family. At age four Lily accidentally kills her mother, and the pain of not only losing her, but being the cause of her death creates this void inside her. Lily’s father, T. Ray Owens, is an abusive and cruel person and father. He blames Lily for his wife's death and offers her no type of love or compassion. When Lily runs away she meets three black sisters who may have known her mother. Lily, in fear that they might turn her and Rosaleen to the authorities, gives them

fake last names and lie about their backstories. However, August Boatwright, one of the sisters knows from the moment she saw Lily that she was Deborah's, Lily's mother, daughter. August is kind and caring to Lily from the very beginning, she offers her warm clothes and a place to stay. August demonstrates to Lily how to take care of their bee hives and introduces her to their farm hand, Zachary Taylor.

Lily has an instant liking to Zach and as they spend more time together and become closer, they quickly fall for each other. As the story continues, Lily builds up the courage to finally come clean to August and share the truth about herself and who her mother is. August who already knew, says, “It hurts, I know it does. Let it out. Just let it out”(Kidd, 238). She is caring and compassionate to Lily and indicates how she was Deborah's nanny when she was a little girl. Due to this event, Lily and August’s relationship becomes stronger and they develop a mother daughter connection. Zach also finds out who Lily really is, but it does not change much since at that time they are not allowed to be with each other because he is black and Lily is white. Zach is straight forward with Lily saying, “Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you” (Kidd, 135). Zach was caring and kind towards Lilly all throughout the novel, he teaches her things and really makes her feel part of a family that she never had experienced

before. In the end, Lily is no longer holding on to her mother’s death and is finally apart of a family that cares about her, with August as her mother figure, always guiding her, and Zach as her closest friend.