William Kidd

August Boatwright and Rosaleen Daise To me the most admirable characters in The Secret Life of Bees are August Boatwright, the oldest sister and who collects the honey from the bee boxes, and Rosaleen Daise, Lily’s mother figure and who goes to Tiburon with her. I think that August is one of the most admirable characters because of how compassionate and caring she is. “Some things don't matter much. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life. But lifting a…

behind what Lily has grown up knowing: Lily shot her mother when she was just two years old. Sue Monk Kidd effectively uses a female presence throughout the novel to guide Lily along the way as she matures into womanhood. From the beginning, Kidd has used Rosaleen as a caring “mother figure” to help raise and supervise Lily as she grows from child to adolescent. As milestones passed for Lily,…

The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem When August was telling Lily about May she said, “Everything just comes to her- all the suffering out there- and she feels as if it’s happening to her” (Kidd 95). The Secret Life of Bees is a story about a girl named Lily who runs away from home to find a family called the Boatwright’s. They are cultured woman who are like mothers to Lily. May, who stands in as one of Lily’s mothers, has a tough time coping with life so she builds her own little Wailing Wall in her…

The moon has always been a strong symbol throughout human culture, representing mystery and time and, throughout many cultures, femininity. In The Secret Life of Bees, the moon makes many appearances, from the space program to Lily’s dreams to it’s typical position in the sky. The author uses the moon to tie the whole story together through repeated symbolism and themes, serving as one of the many motifs of the book. One of the first major uses of the Moon comes from a dream Lily has after she…

Forgiveness does not always mean to forget. A traumatic event in someone’s life can often determine how they develop their relationships between the people around them. In the novel Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kid, the main character Lily and her father T-ray were both haunted by memories of her late mother. Being insecure and unassured, Lily had no friends, and the overbearing abuse from her farther lead her to run away to Tiburon with her housekeeper Rosaline. Towards the end of…

People grow through experiences and challenges. In the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily also matured and grew up during the book. Three examples of how Lily matured and grew are becoming understanding, hard working and independence. “I turned my pillow over and over for the coolness, thinking about May and her wall and what the world had come to that a person needed something like that” (Pg 98 Kidd, Sue Monk). This quote symbolizes understanding because Lily is beginning to realize that…

story Lily is trying to find her place and the find her mother figure she’s been missing in her life. The metaphor of bees going into a frenzy when they lose their queen is used to describe Lily’s and especially T. Ray’s life without Deborah. Sue Monk Kidd specifically chose bees to represent Lily’s and T. Ray’s struggle without their “queen”.…

African American beekeepers. The setting takes place in South Carolina in 1964, a time when racism was provoked by the civil rights movement and often times turned violent. In the novel, Sue Monk Kidd portrays, through her characters, that racism creates negative impressions. Initially, Sue Monk Kidd demonstrates through her main character, stereotypes are often created about people of different races. When some cross paths with a person of…

The Secret Life of Bees is an emotional story that tells a tale of a girl who lives with the regret of accidentally killing her mother. She now lives with her angry emotionally reserved father. Lily’s only mother figure and real friend is her black made, Rosaline. This story is all about forgiveness, and the challenges of racism at that time Secret Life of Bees is told in the form of a book and a movie. They both tell the story in different unique ways, while keeping the general plot the same.…

United States such as cities in South Carolina in the 1960’s during a time as the Civil Rights Movement had such an impact on some people and it being such a hard time with racism and lots of prejudice situations. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd shows Lily’s coming of age and how she grows up with all of the experiences she is faced with. Lily Owens had lived in Sylvan, South Carolina with her Father T Ray and caretaker Rosaleen. Lily’s upbringing was troubled her father had verbally…