Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees

As Nelson Mandela once said, “No is born hating another person because of the color of his, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” In the novel “The Secret Life Of Bees” by Harper Lee portrays symbolism and character development. Like Nelson Mandela saw everyone as equal no matter what they look like or what they did. Unlike Nelson Mandela, Lily’s perspective is not like his, but Lily quickly changes when she learns life lessons from the people surrounding her and the bees. The bees, their beehive, and religion in the novel symbolize the characters, their actions, and forgiveness.

The beehive is a

complex place just like our world we live in.

When the beehive becomes unsuitable for a bee they move. Many years after Lily’s mother dies and Lily becomes smarter she realizes her “queen” or her dad, T-Ray, becomes very vulgar she has to find a new “beehive” or home. T-Ray her father is very abusive towards Lily because she killed her mother in an accident with a gun when she was four.“The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness.” (Kidd). T-Ray gets abusive when his “queen” is extracted from the hive or his wife Deborah which can literally translate to “bee”. Just like the real world and the hive once a figurehead is removed things get out of control. "How I hated T. Ray, and the girls at school, but mostly myself for taking away my mother." (Kidd). Having a mother or “queen bee” is very supporting to a person or thing. Having a relationship

with your mother is important to the hive and to a human. The bees depend on the queen in the hive. Lily is different and does not have a mother to depend on. “A queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community; there may be a mournful wail or lament from within…without intervention, the colony will die. But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place.”(The Secret Life of Bees: Themes.) At the beginning of the novel, the queen bee is symbolic of Lily’s mother. After her mother died, Lily grew into an unconfident and unloved adolescent. This was her mournful cry for help. When she found August, changes occurred. Lily became a stronger, loved person. August became the new queen that saved Lily’s colony.
Lily helps August tend the bees every afternoon. One after August says this, “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about.” (Kidd). This is very ironic because when August tells Lily this she feels some guilt because Lily had to lie about why she is staying with her and the sisters at the pink house. This can portray Lily as a good or bad person because she is taking advantage of August. Although August does know she is lying she is showing her the importance of honesty and to be forgiving of the simple mistakes humans make. In the beginning of the novel bees are flying around Lily’s room. “When a bee flies, a soul will rise.” (Hebb). The novel began with Lily waking up to a room filled with swarming bees. After May died, August told the story of Aristaeus. In the story, the bees symbolized a new life. By finding the Boatwright sisters and their bees, Lily was reborn into a better, happier person.
Lily carries a picture of Black Mary everywhere she goes because it reminds her of her mother. Little does Lily know August and the other Boatwright sisters are the ones who taught Deborah, Lily’s mother, about the Black Mary. Lily and the Boatwright sisters pray to the Black Madonna everyday because they believe it will help them through their difficult times. “August is like a earthly Black Madonna” (Sue Monk Kidd and Heidi Schlumpf). Most prominently, however, it is clear that the Black Madonna acts as a symbol of motherhood and the various surrogate mothers that Lily finds during the course of her novel.In a sense, the picture is a symbol of Lily's mother, and is what guides her to finding her surrogate mother, August, who is able to give her information about Deborah and her love for Lily and also providing as a motherly figure for Lily. The Black Madonna also shows Lily to be herself and that the color of your skin does not mean a thing. Lily later falls in love with a African American man named Zach. He later tells Lily about how he wants to be a lawyer and Lily is shocked because she is used to the stereotypical African American. “’Bullshit. You gotta imagine what’s never been.’” (Susan Anderson “Criticism of The Secret Life Of Bees”) . Zach tells Lily of his dreams of becoming a lawyer. Before, she had grown used to the stereotypical roles of different social classes. Now she has been introduced with African Americans who dared to dream beyond what their stereotypical role is. Lily is surprised by the realization that people can go above their social class’s norm. Lily ponders deeply about this while they are together and she remembers what the Black Madonna teaches her. Not only does the Black Madonna teach Lily important life lessons it symbolizes them in a very uniquely and ironic way to Lily.
Lily’s courage throughout the novel brought her to be a very, “strong independent beautiful young lady” (Overview of The Secret Life Of Bees). Her determination and motivation are what drove her to follow her dreams of being a writer. Learning to look past the negative things in life and to look past the flaws in humans. Overcoming her past allowed her to truly be herself, the queen of her own hive.