More handpicked essays just for you.
The secret life of bees theme essay
Secret life of bees literary devices
The secret life of bees theme essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a realistic fiction novel that tells the story of Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl living in South Carolina, in 1964 with her father; T. Raye, and her housekeeper, Rosaleen. Lily and Rosalyn get into an argument with a couple white men. Rosaleen pours her chew on one of the white men because of their obscure comments. Times being how they were in 1964 Rosaleen was put in jail for spitting on a white man. Lily decides she needs to break Rosaleen out. I will present to you the main character’s personality, the main idea of this novel, and how I personally related to the main character. Throughout this novel Lily’s personality is shown through how she responds to what people think. Lily was that girl …show more content…
in class that always had her nose in a book and didn’t have too many friends. “He did not care that I wore clothes I made in home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below my knees, outfits only pentecostal girls wore. I might as well have worn a sign on my back: I am not popular and never will be.” (Monk Kidd 8) Lily thinks it’s her shortcoming that her father thinks like he does. So she believes that it is his fault for how she is. She thinks that if she had more attractive clothes, then maybe more people would want to be her friend. It is important to note that the theme of this novel is that people aren’t always the same under the surface as they are on top of the surface.
“I’ve just never heard of a Negro lawyer, that’s all. You’ve got to hear of these things before you can imagine them.” (Monk Kidd 121) Not only does this quote represent this novel it also relates back to the title. Bee's may have a great free life outside the hive, however on the inside, their work is far more complex. Just because you have never heard about something in your head does not mean it is not going on outside your head. Lots of people have disagreements with their parents. “‘What did you say?’ ‘I said I’m not leaving.’” (Monk Kidd 296) I related to this so much that when I read it I kind of smirked because it reminded me of myself. Parents and their kids definitely don’t always get along. But that is only because our minds think so differently. I have never had an argument with my parents as bad as Lily did. However, I still understand the frustration she had throughout the novel when she was with her dad. In conclusion, I think The Secret Life of Bees had an intriguing plot line, climax, and resolution. Even though I thought the novel was very fascinating I did not really enjoy the way it was written. I had to force myself to read it and it was not a pleasant time. However, once I had finished the novel I liked looking back on
it.
Lily has stated from the beginning that T. Ray has never earned the title of ‘Dad’. Lily calling him Daddy, is her way of forgiving her father for everything he put her through. Lily has been through more than most fourteen year-olds can imagine. Her learning to forgive her mother, her father and herself has gotten her to finally open up, and make friends.
In life, actions and events that occur can sometimes have a greater meaning than originally thought. This is especially apparent in The Secret Life Of Bees, as Sue Monk Kidd symbolically uses objects like bees, hives, honey, and other beekeeping means to present new ideas about gender roles and social/community structures. This is done in Lily’s training to become a beekeeper, through August explaining how the hive operates with a queen, and through the experience Lily endures when the bees congregate around her.
People share their secret lives without even talking about them. It only takes a glance or feeling to see that others have faced similar situations and problems, some people even live parallel lives. Despite the fact that many people believe it impossible for a measly insect, like a bee, to know the pain hardships a human faces, Sue Monk Kidd proves them wrong with her book The Secret Life of Bees. In her novel she derives many of her characters from the types of bees that exist in a hive. Lily and Zach have characteristic that are akin to that of field bees, August has that nurturing personality of a nurse bee, and the Lady of Chains is revered by her subjects just like a Queen bee is by her hive. Nowadays, no one ever faces a problem that someone, or something, has already faced. No one really has a secret life all to themselves.
Miline, Ira Mark. Ed. "The Secret Life of Bees." Novels for Students. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Print.
Themes such as motherhood, racism, and the bees’ hardwork are included in The Secret Life of Bees,written by Susan Monk Kidd, in order to show and highlight the hard times that the each character faced. This novel highlights Lily’s path from a child to young adult. She now sees with more clarity in subjects of racism and her new family. Her path started innocent and uneducated and ended up being very whole and educated. In Lily’s growth throughout this novel, her trials and tribulations were shown. In The Secret Life of Bees, there are many words and phrases referenced and used that stay full of wisdom, courage, and female
The setting in the Secret life of bees helps set the overall structure of the book. As the setting changes, and certain events take place, so does the characters views on life. The most change seen is on Lily, the main character. Her values multiply and her perspective on cultural order shifts from one mind set to another. Although one part of the book’s setting limits the opportunities of the characters; the other part opens those and different opportunities. The setting in The Secret Life of Bees is vitally important because it impacts the main character and the people around her through events that transpire in the book.
Zaleski, Jeff. “Review of The Secret Life of Bees.” Publishers Weekly 12 Nov. 2001: 33. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale, 2009. N. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. .
In the novel the Secret Life of Bees, Lily faces many obstacles which helps her become a young woman. Every major character plays an important role in Lily’s journey to maturity. By August and Rosaleen’s guidance, Lily obtains the necessary knowledge and experience needed to complete her goals and become a young woman. During the events that occur in the novel which aids Lily through her trials, she experiences female empowerment which bestows love into her life and strengthens her in order to survive the prejudiced world.
The Secret Life of Bees has plentiful characters that represent someone you may know, or even yourself. Sue Monk Kidd reveals real issues that we are still facing in society today. One of these issues comes in one of the most significant quote by is stated by August. She states, “People can start out one way, and by the time life gets through with them they end up completely different” (248). Three characters that represent this quote are May, June, and Rosaleen. Ultimately, Sue Monk Kidd included these characters to display that it is acceptable for a human to grief in their own way, and to respect others in their time of grief.
Most people think of bees as small, pesky creatures that sting you, or as the important insect that allows our plants to grow. However, Sue Monk Kidd takes these small insects and turns them into much more in The Secret Life of Bees. The Secret Life of Bees is set in 1964 in South Carolina. The main character, Lily, is a troubled thirteen-year-old girl with a dead mother and an abusive father, which leads her to wonder if anyone really loved her. When her “stand-in mother” Rosaleen is arrested they escape to the town of Tiburon, South Carolina where they find the bee keeping Boatwright sisters August, June, and May. The bees in The Secret Life of Bees represent more than insects, they symbolize Lily’s deepest feelings, her need for a mother,
People may think they have a tough life to go through, but few can compete with Lily Owens’. At just fourteen years-old, Lily must live with her abusive father and day after day will relive the moment she killed her mother. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd she must find her true self in her journey through the book. Lily has no friends in her small town, since her father has poor fashion choices of “cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts” below her knees (8), and her knotted hair that does not get brushed often because she has no mother figure to look after her. When her housekeeper and only companion, Rosaleen, gets in trouble with three white men in their town of Sylvan, Lily makes
Anyways, Lily has also risked everything to get to Rosaleen as well. For instance, while she was in the hospital, Lily got to Rosaleen by lying her way through every security guard. The fact that Lily ran away with Rosaleen shows that she loves her and that she doesn’t want to live without her. Another
In life most of the time people end up having to really look for other people if they want to find someone and the person they are looking for does not just appear to them after a few hours of looking for them. Another flaw in the book was when Lily was in her room in the beginning of the book and there was a swarm of bees around her but when she went In this part it was questionable whether the bees were real of if she was just imagining them. Lily just sat there calmly not moving a muscle with a swarm of bees buzzing around her and if this were real life and a swarm of bees surrounded someone they would not just sit there and listen to the bees, they would run out of the room and away from the bees as fast as he or she could. Then Lily ran out of the room to go
The Secret Life of Bees was the first novel published by Sue Kidd and it received many awards. She was inspired to write this novel due to her experiences of segregation as a kid. While writing the story about a young white girl, Kidd uses many symbols, imagery, and events throughout the novel to describe the segregation between whites and blacks during this time. The reader chose this novel because it was recommended by the librarian and was interested in the history.
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