Lily Owens Change

895 Words2 Pages

Maternal actions from mothers and motherly figures should convey love that is nurturing, comforting, and enlightening. When people do not receive these maternal actions their lives’ typically change negatively. In the book, “The Secret Life of Bees”, the protagonist, Lily Owens, a fourteen-year-old girl, is presently going through such a change. Throughout the story, Lily feels neglected and downhearted because she has no mother to be there with her; Lily was four years old when her mother, Deborah, suddenly passed away and was stolen from Lily’s life. However, Lily meets new people along her life’s journey who nurture and love her. Not until the end of the book does she realize these maternal figures and their love for her. One of these figures …show more content…

Lily experiences comfort from August when Lily tells her how she ended up in Tiburon, South Carolina. She begins to share with August her story and states that she ran away because T. Ray told her that Deborah abandoned both of them when she was little (238). Lily starts to remember the feeling of abandonment, caused by Deborah’s absence, when telling the story. The next thing Lily notices is that her eyes fill up and tears stream down her cheeks. August sees and takes Lily into her open arms (238). Lily recognizes that August wants to comfort and love her in a motherly way. A thought emerges in Lily’s mind about August’s maternal love of comfort, stating, “She didn’t say, Come on now, stop your crying, everything’s going to be okay, which is the automatic thing people say when they want you to shut up. She said, “It hurts, I know it does. Let it out. Just let it out” (238). Due to the comfort and words of love from August, Lily forgets her feelings about her mother’s absence and instead encounters another expression of August’s maternal …show more content…

Lily tells August about the criminal-like actions she took to get to Tiburon and her anger with Deborah abandoning her. August responds by telling Lily about her mother’s life story, after all, August worked as Deborah’s housekeeper in those formative years. Near the end of this deep conversation, August tells Lily an important life lesson, stating, “Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes… There is nothing perfect. There is only life” (256). August reminds Lily that soon after her mother left her, she realized she made a mistake leaving Lily behind and tried to correct it by going back to Sylvan, South Carolina to recover Lily. However, Lily ends up accidentally shooting Deborah and she passes away. Although Lily feels hatred toward her mother for abandoning her, she also feels crushed about her mother’s absence because Deborah’s death is her fault. A quality of a good mother/motherly figure is giving truthful and useful insight to their child. August’s advice explains that even though things happen in life, people must be willing to notice and fix mistakes and forgive others’ mistakes. Lily continues to see more of August’s maternal love through the enlightenment she

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