Quest In Thomas Foster's The Secret Life Of Bees

When someone hears the word quest, their mind automatically goes to a mythical land of dragons and knights in shining armor. However, Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor states that this shouldn’t always be the case. In Chapter One: Every Trip Is a Quest, Foster claims that a quest in literature can take place in any time period and can be as mundane as grocery shopping. In order to classify an event as quest, it needs to follow certain criteria. There needs to be “a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there” (Foster, 3). Furthermore, considering the definition of a quest by Thomas Foster, it is clear that the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, fits

the criteria.
The initial step to classify something as a quest is to have a quester, the person embarking on the adventure. Moreover, the quester in this novel is fourteen-year-old Lily Owens. Lily lives with her abusive father in South Carolina at a time where racism is rampant. As a matter of fact, Lily’s mother died when she was four, a central plot point in the novel. This is mainly because she vaguely remembers being the one who shot her mother. Additionally, Lily Owens fits Foster’s definition of a quester, an average looking teenager who is an outcast to society. Likewise, she has few friends and dreams of the day she will break loose from her father’s torment.
Moreover, the second requirement in order for an event to qualify as a quest is a place to go.

Now, a reader may believe that a travel destination on a quest should be extravagant such as a castle. On the contrary, Foster states that the setting of a quest can be simple such as a grocery store. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Lily’s place to go may seem mundane. However, it holds meaning for her since her mother died when she was young, she doesn’t remember her well. Instead, she keeps her mother’s spirit alive through a box of her belongings. One of the items is a picture of the black Virgin Mary, with the words “Tiburon, South Carolina”. Additionally, Lily believes that since her mother treasured this picture that it holds a special meaning. When Lily finds the name of the woman who created the image, August Boatwright, her house becomes their new

destination.
Along with the previous two requirements, there is also a third to be met: a stated reason to travel. Although, there needs to be a stated reason, Foster says this need is almost never fulfilled. To put it differently, Foster states, “The real reason for a quest is always self knowledge” (Foster 3). At the same time, although the stated reason in literature might not follow through, one needs to be present. For example, in Lily’s case, her stated reason is to discover more about her mother. Specifically, she says, “I’d looked it up on the map once, and it wasn’t more than two hours away. Had my mother been there and bought this picture? I always promised myself one day, when I was grown-up enough, I would take the bus over there. I wanted to go every place she had ever been” (Kidd 14-15). Coupled with Lily’s stated place is also the reason why she wants to travel there, to discover more about her mother.
On the other hand, en route to the destination isn’t always smooth sailing. The fourth requirement to call something a quest is that there must be trials and challenges on the quester’s way. As Foster claims, there can be a dragon in a prince’s way to save the princess or it could be a flat tire on the way to work. In short, each of these events constitutes to a problem the quester has to face. Similarly, Lily also faces her own set of challenges on the way to Tiburon. Her stand in mother Rosaleen was thrown into jail and the two characters also had no mode of transportation to the town. Luckily, they were able to hitchhike their way there, but when they became close, they had no shelter to stay in. Unfortunately, neither one of them had enough food to sustain themselves for the trip. The numerous trials and challenges further improve the claim that the adventure in the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, can be defined as a quest.
Finally, the last requirement is for the quester to have a real reason to go.

As stated previously, Foster claims the reasons all questers go out is to obtain self-knowledge. Additionally, Foster states, “That’s why questers are so often young, inexperienced, immature, and sheltered” (Foster 3). Moreover, questers are so young because they don’t yet know who they are, usually while out on the quest they discover themselves. For example, Lily Owens in the novel is fourteen years old; she’s still subject to all of the elements around her. Although Lily states in the novel that the reason she is going to Tiburon is to learn more about her mother, there is another motive. Throughout the novel, August helps her realize that although she does not have a mother and feels empty and unloved, she can be the mother figure for herself. Furthermore, August says to Lily what she has been striving for all along, “You have to find a mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside” (Kidd 288). In summary, Lily recognizes that while she was searching for self-love and assurance in a mother figure, that it would be an impossible feat. Everyone has the power to survive, even without a mom; you have the strength to love yourself and persevere. In conclusion, although Lily did not fully accomplish her stated reason to go on a quest, she did learn a lot about herself and her worth. The novel, The Secret Life of Bees, met

all of Foster’s guidelines and it deserving of being deemed a quest.