Individuality In The Secret Life Of Bees

Dr. Seuss, the legendary children’s author and illustrator, once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind” (Psychology Today). Dr. Seuss is saying that people should be themselves no matter what, because anyone who cares about them will not attempt to stop them. Society is constantly showing people images of who they should be, rather than embracing the individuality of people. However, despite the constant pressuring of society, people need to learn to choose who they want to be and ignore anyone who says they can not be themselves. In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd constantly brings up the theme of individuality in a society, expressing that people can rise

above their social roles. The main character Lily observes segregation and racism, as the story is set in South Carolina in the 1960s. Although she experiences many negative things in her life, she also sees many courageous people rise above their social roles. In The Secret Life of Bees, the main character Lily surrounds herself with people to look up to, hears many stories about individuality and nonconformity, and has the courage to be herself and stand up for what she believes in.

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 confidence to stand up for what she believes in like Rosaleen stood up to these white men. Another person that Lily looks up to is Zach. Lily meets Zach while she is working for August in the honey house, and Lily immediately becomes fond of Zach. After they met, Zach told Lily, “I don’t want to play football, I want to be a lawyer” (Kidd 121). Upon hearing this, Lily is surprised, saying “I’ve just never heard of a Negro lawyer, that’s all” (Kidd 121). Zach then says, “You’ve got to imagine what’s never been” (Kidd 121). What Zach tells Lily is an idea that will come back to Lily, and will affect decisions she makes. Zach helps Lily understand the power of choice, a right for every person in a society. At this point in the novel, Lily is sure that she will go to beauty school because she is a white orphaned girl. After learning that she can choose to become whoever she wants, Lily begins to work towards becoming a writer again. The final person that Lily admires is August. Lily moves into the honey house and works on making honey with August. Lily does not tell August about her mother until late in the book. When August hears Lily talk about her mother, she tells Lily that she and June used to be housekeepers in her mother’s home. This is what a black woman’s role in society is, to be a housekeeper in a white family’s home. August then tells Lily that she took a teaching job and gave up working for her mother as a housekeeper. August is talking about working for Lily’s mother, and describes leaving the job, “Until I got that teaching job I told you about” (Kidd 247). This is yet another example that Lily sees of people defying their roles in society and becoming who they want to be. These experiences are important for Lily to see because then she will know that it is possible to be someone that society does not expect her to be. Throughout the novel, Lily sees many people rise above their social roles, which inspires her to do the same and work to become a writer rather than go to beauty school.
Another component in Lily learning to become herself against society’s rules is stories that she hears and writes.

In The Secret Life of Bees, the importance of storytelling is a theme that is brought up repeatedly. A significant story that Lily hears is the story of Our Lady of Chains, told to her by August. This story is about the spirit of Mary overtaking a black statue, and when a white man tries to put chains on the statue, Mary breaks the chains every time. This story is an analogy to society, Mary acting as mankind, the chains as the social laws that people are supposed to abide by, and the man chaining up the statue as society. The Daughters of Mary believe in the Spirit of Mary affecting each of their lives and decisions. When Lily observes this unique religion, she begins to trust in Mary as well, saying, “I live in a hive of darkness, and you are my mother, You are the mother of thousands” (Kidd 164). When Lily makes decisions, she will now be able to rely on Mary to help her break the chains that society is trying to put on her. August also tells Lily, “Our Lady is not some magical being out there somewhere like a fairy godmother. She’s not the statue in the parlor. She’s something inside of you” (Kidd 288). August tells Lily that the Spirit of Mary is inside her, constantly helping her make the right decisions. Lily is able to trust Mary to break the chains that society is trying to put on her. Not only does Lily hear important stories, she also

writes them. In the beginning of the novel, Lily says that she dreams of becoming a writer someday. However, after she runs away from home, she immediately assumes that her only hope is beauty school because that is what she thinks all white orphaned girls are destined to do. However, as she begins to see people be who they want to be, Lily begins to believe more in herself, and she writes stories. She says, “My favorite, though, was one about Zach becoming the ass-busting lawyer and getting his own television show” (Kidd 135). Lily writes a story about Zach becoming a lawyer. Lily is beginning to feel excited about people not conforming to their social roles, and wants to write stories about them in hopes of making them a reality. However, the next step is making her imagination of these changes become the reality. These stories that Lily writes are important to her, because now she is able to “imagine what’s never been” as Zach told her earlier in the novel. She is starting to dream of how she wants the world to be, and writing about it. Near the end of the novel, Lily says, “I know that it is an absurd thought, but I believe in the goodness of imagination” (Kidd 300). Lily believes that her imagination is positive and she will use her imagination to inspire change in the world. The stories that Lily hears and writes are crucial in her believing in the possibility of change in society.
After Lily believes that change is possible, she uses courage to stand up for what she believes in. Lily decides to stay and live with August, and she begins to start school there. Zach is also starting school with Lily, and he will go to the white school. When school starts, the white children immediately begin to taunt Zach, and regardless of how she may be viewed, Lily is still friends with him. Lily says, “We have reputations as nigger lovers, which is how it is put to us, and when the ignoramuses ball up their notebook paper and throw it at Zach in the hallway, which seems to be a favorite pastime between classes, Becca and I are just as likely to get popped in the head as he is” (Kidd 301). Zach is protesting the segregation of schools, and rather than not be a part of it, Lily chooses to support Zach and stand up for what she believes in. This shows how Lily has changed throughout the novel, because at the beginning she was sad to be unpopular, but now she is proud. She is courageous to stand out in the school and support Zach who is the outsider in the school. Another time Lily must be courageous is when T. Ray comes to the pink house to retrieve Lily. Lily stands up to T. Ray and tells him that she doesn’t want to leave. This takes an extreme amount of courage to stand up to T. Ray, especially since Lily knows that T. Ray will likely physically abuse her. However, despite this knowledge, Lily says, “I’m staying here, I’m not leaving” (Kidd 296). Lily tells T. Ray that she will not go with him, even though he had previously slapped her moments before. This shows how Lily has grown and now believes in herself enough to have the courage to stand up for herself. Courage plays a key role in rising above society’s expectations and becoming a unique person.
Lily uses courage, surrounds herself with people to look up to, and hears many stories about individuality to become a strong and individual women. These are important steps to learning to becoming unique in a world where society is constantly pressuring everyone to become someone they are not. They do not only apply to Lily, however, they apply to every single person in society. In society today, there are images and people everywhere telling everyone who they should be and who they should not be. These people must learn to become who they are despite what society is telling them, and focus on their happiness which is what truly matters. For as Dr. Seuss said, express individuality and recognize the people that support this change as the people who genuinely matter in life.