The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

1118 Words3 Pages

The Quest Pattern theory states that during adolescence a youth is looking for their identity. This individual will look for a place where they are accepted. The quest fits a loose pattern; the first step is determined by fate, destiney provides a troubling situation before the individual can embark on their journey. Then the initial change happens, or the event that sets the quest in motion. Next is the unchartered territory, in this stage the real adventure happens; a person can geographically venture into new territory, or an experience an emotional journey somewhere outside of their comfort zone. Next, is the required learned knowledge; this is the information that the individual learns about his or her self in order to reach self-acceptance. There is the journey home, which is a quest within itself, but also a stage where more knowledge is gained. Lastly the reward, it is the happiness that occurs from the knowledge that the individual has gained; this stage is also known as finding the meaning of life. The Quest Pattern is a journey of personal evolution that every antagonist can relate to.
According to the Quest Pattern, Lily, the antagonist in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, comes of age quite elegantly. She has to face some harsh situations that set her journey in motion, acquire knowledge about her past and present, and find a reward during this journey. While Lily’s quest isn’t easy, she finds that “…nobody is perfect. [And] How you just have to close your eyes and breathe out and let the puzzle of the human heart be what it is.” (Kidd 285). To prove that she is coming of age, she follows the pattern, and manages to with a strong will, and a maturity that is generally unknown to others her age.
Lily faces so...

... middle of paper ...

...inds love along the way. She makes rash decisions in bad situations, faces the truth that she has been avoiding, and finds her place in the world. While her journey takes some unexpected twists, Lily learns to make the best of what she has, and go for what she wants. She learns to move on from the past, and make a brighter future. But most importantly, Lily learns to accept that life is unpredictable and that by doing her best Lily is living life the way she wants to.

Works Cited

• Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin Group, 2002. Print.
• Brinkman, Mrs. "The Quest Pattern Theory." ENG3U1. Norwood District High School. 22 Apr. 2014. Class lecture.
• "Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey." "HeroQuest" Adventures; spiritual quests to renew purpose, create vision, success.. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • The Art Of Forgiveness In Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lily is a dynamic character who in the beginning is negative and unconfident. However, throughout the novel Lily starts to change into the forgiving person she is at the end. In the beginning of the novel, as the reader is first introduced to Lily’s character, she comes across as an extremely negative young girl. While thinking about one of Rosaleen’s crazy ideas, she thinks to herself, “people who think dying is the worst thing,” she tells the reader, “don’t know a thing about life” (2).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sister Souljah's The Coldest Winter Ever

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    While she might think that her plans are working, they only lead her down a path of destruction. She lands in a boarding house, when child services find her, she goes to jail, becomes pregnant by a man who she believed was rich. Also she becomes sentenced to 15 years in prison, over a street fight with a former friend she double crossed. In the end, she is still serving time and was freed by the warden to go to her mother’s funeral. To only discover that her two sisters were adopted by the man she once loved, her sister is with the man who impregnated her, and the younger sister has become just like her. She wants to warn her sister, but she realizes if she is just like her there is no use in giving her advice. She just decides that her sister must figure it out by

    Read More

  • The Hero Journey in Princess Bride

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holmes, Thomas. “The hero’s journey: an inquiry-research model. Jun 2007, vol 34 issue 5, p19-22.4p. 1 Diagram

    Read More

  • Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees: The Nature of Grief

    1715 Words  | 4 Pages

    Grief leaves an imprint on those who experience it. Some can survive its deep sorrow, others cannot. In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, she explores the effect of grief on the main characters. The novel opens with fourteen-year-old Lily Owns struggling with the knowledge that her mother was dead because she, as an infant, picked up a loaded gun and accidentally shot her. She runs away from her abusive father in search for answers of who her mother was. Lily hitchhikes to Tiburon, South Carolina; the location written on the back of an image of the Black Madonna – one of the only belongings she has of her mother’s. There, she finds a pink house inhabited by the Boatwright sisters who are African American women making Black Madonna honey. The Boatwright sisters have had their share of grief with the death of two of their sisters and the racial intolerance they face despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The Boatwright sisters and Lily Owens have different methods of coping with grief; internalizing, ignoring, and forgetting are some of the ways they cope, with varying degrees of success. They discover that they must live past their grief, or else it will tear them apart.

    Read More

  • Explaining the Three Stages in "The Hero's Journey"

    1745 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the course of this World Literature class, several stories have been covered that accurately describe Joseph Campbell's mono-myth, or basic pattern found in narratives from every corner of the world. The Hero's Journey in it's entirety has seventeen stages or steps, but if boiled down can be described in three; the departure, the initiation, and the return (Monomyth Cycle). Each stage has several steps, but the cycle describes the hero starting in his initial state, encountering something to change him, and this his return as a changed person. To further explain this concept, there are a few stories covered in this class that can be used.

    Read More

  • The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Experiencing a tragedy at a young age causes many problems as that individual grows up. The most common effects are changes in usual behavior, episodes of crying or sadness, and suicidal thoughts. In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, the death of a close sibling causes two characters to act out and experience these effects.

    Read More

  • The Heros Journey In The Hero's Journey

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Hero’s Journey is an ancient archetype that we find throughout our modern life and also, in the world of literature.Whether metaphorical or real, the journey that a character goes on shows not only the incredible transformation of the hero but it also gives them their life meaning. It is the ultimate human experience and it reflects on every aspect of life. Take Logan, also known as Wolverine, from the X-Men movie as an example. His adventure starts with “The Call,” which is the first step of the Hero’s Journey. This step happens due to the realization of imbalance and injustice that the character has in their life. Logan steps into the first stage of the pattern but is hesitant to start his adventure because he does not know what and

    Read More

  • The Hero’s Journey in Into The Wild, by John Krakauer

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Google Books. November 10, 2009. http://books.google.com/books.

    Read More

  • Review Of Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    Classics explore aspects of human identity and reveal how people struggle with mistakes and pain, how people realize their own childishness, and how to learn from mistakes. The Secret Life of Bees, set in the American South in 1964 amid racial unrest, tells story of Lily Owens, a white 14-year-old girl who is searching for the truth about her deceased mother. She lives on a peach farm with her cruel and abusive father, T. Ray, who tells Lily that she accidentally shot her mother, Deborah, when she was four. Lily accompanies the family’s black housekeeper, Rosaleen, to town to register to vote. Taunted by white men, she spills the contents of her snuff jar on their feet, is beaten, taken to jail,

    Read More

  • The Secret Life Of Bees Book Report Essay

    515 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Heros Journey: A Hero's Journey

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (Moyers 1). The Hero’s Journey consists of three major parts: the separation, the initiation, and the return. Throughout a character’s journey, they must complete a physical or spiritual deed. A physical deed involves performing a daunting and courageous act that preserves the well-being of another person. A spiritual deed calls for action that improves another individual’s state of mind.

    Read More

  • The Hero Of Gilgamesh And Joseph Campbell's Hero

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph Campbell was a well known mythology teacher who spent his whole life trying to understand the different types of stories that are told. To Campbell “all humans are involved in a struggle to accomplish the adventure of the hero in their own lives.” He made a list of stages that every hero goes through, and sums it up to three sections: separation (the departure), the initiation, and the return.

    Read More

  • My Sister Hero's Journey

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Observing other people’s life stories can have a big impact on your life. You see people come up from nothing and they turn that into something. You witness their journey, from the tough times to the good times, from the crying and suffering to the laughs. But, does a person ever sit back and think about how much time they’ve wasted being fake present in another person's journey? One often spends more time watching someone build their path, that they often forget to build theirs. Joseph Campbell, was a mythologist who believed that Hero’s journey can apply to anyone and any culture. In order to get a better understanding of Campbell's mythology, my paper will examine the hero’s journey and how it will apply to Jodi Picoult’s story, My Sister’s

    Read More

  • Harry Potter and The Hero's Journey

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    One well-known example of “The Hero’s Journey” from popular culture is the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling. In the novel, Harry Potter, the main character, is the chosen one and “The Hero’s Journey” applies to his life from the moment he is attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as a baby. Joseph Campbell calls the initial phase of a hero’s development the “Call to Adventure.” The call is the in... ...

    Read More

  • Response to Richard Kraut’s Desire and the Human Good

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    Desire Satisfaction Theory states that: a life goes best if and only if desires for that life are satisfied. The variability of desires from person to person, along with Desire Satisfaction Theory, makes it possible to have many types of lifes that are different yet all of them making the life of anyone who desire to live them go well; for example if someone desires to make a living as an engineer, the fulfillment of that desire makes his life go best, and at the same time another person who desires to write music would be better off studying music rather than engineering.

    Read More

More about The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Open Document