Exploring Multifaceted Themes in 'The Secret Life of Bees'

How Many Themes Does The Author Try to Convey? Well, Many!

The Secret Life of Bees, a novel written by Sue Monk Kidd, contains several themes that the author wants to thoroughly convey towards readers. In this book, the Kidd goes in-depth on the irrationality of racism, and how many people think that people of colour are vicious, or useless human beings without a purpose, without actually giving any thought about it. The author goes into detail on the power of female community, and how the protagonist, Lily Owens, finds at the Boatwright house several females, who take her in as mothers and how she learns the power of female community. And finally, Kidd also tries to convey the grand importance of storytelling, given that the Lily Owens loves

In this novel, the protagonist Lily Owens adores reading books, and adopts it as a hobby. Lily recognizes the importance of storytelling as a way to transcend or escape from her own circumstances, like her abusive father T.Ray, and the death of her mother, Deborah. Within the early pages of the novel, Lily states that whenever she opens a book, she can recall certain memories. One of them is her father harassing her by saying things hurtful things like “Who do you think you are, Julius Shakespeare?” (29), and she goes on to say “He also referred to me as Miss Brown-Nose-in-a-Book and occasionally as Miss Emily-Big-Head-Diction” (29). This is clear evidence that in T.Rays opinion, Lily reads way too much, and Lily shows that her love for books is beyond insults and continues to read on anyway. Lily also recalls that her teacher (Mrs. Hudson) praises her too much for being so intelligent and lends her a lot of books. In the book, Lily says “She (Mrs. Hudson) said a scholarship was my only hope for a future and lent me her private books for the summer” (29). Mrs. Hudson says this in a helpful manner, given that T.Ray didn’t have a

She introduces the Irrationality of Racism, by not only using typical stereotypes, but by connecting to the people of today, and how they say things unintentionally as they are misinformed like the protagonist of the story, Lily Owens, or just plain ignorant. She goes in-depth on The Power of Female Community, and how Lily Owens, even without a mother-figure at the start of the novel ended up gaining more than she asked for, with the three Boatwright sisters taking her in as their own, raising her to become a much more empowering, loving, and confident woman. And finally, she sheds a lot of light on the importance of storytelling, and how many readers, like Lily, escape into their own realities when reading, as well as being inspired to do something more, much like how Lily wanted to become a writer to tell the world about herself, as well as her own