Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees is an exemplary novel which reveals the racism, sexism, and overall discrimination that unfolded in the south. The Secret Life of Bees transports the reader to the year of 1964 in South Carolina, where racial tensions were almost as high as the temperature and people were surrounded by oppression. During this humid summer a girl named Lily Owens runs away from her abusive father T. Ray, in search of her mother's past and the truth behind her death. After a scuffle breaks out between her housekeeper Rosaleen and some white men, Lily decides to take her along for the ride as they head towards Tiburon S.C. the location written on the back of a picture of black Mary. Lily and Rosaleen soon find a jar of honey
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While Lily’s mom is not physically “there” in her life she is always with Lily in spirit. After lying restless in bed one evening Lily decides to go out to the orchard to look at her mother's items she had found earlier. While out there T. Ray catches her and makes her go inside and kneel on the grits. Lily thinks to herself about the objects and how she hid them under her shirt, “I felt waxed paper with my mother's picture inside and her gloves stuck to my belly, and it seemed all of a sudden like my mother was there, up against my body, like she was bits and pieces of insulation molded against my skin, helping me absorb all his meanness,” (Kidd 24). Without the presence of these objects and Deborah on her mind, Lily would not be able to make it through things like kneeling on the grits. This event helps to reveal that a mother's presence is crucial in a young girl's life. Later on in the novel, T.Ray tells Lily that her mother left her and ran away so Lily goes into her room to contemplate this newfound idea. Suddenly Lily hears, “Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open”(Kidd 41). This one sentence inspires her to do what she has always wanted to do: find out the truth. Lily feels that this voice was her mother telling her than it is her opportunity to leave Sylvan South Carolina and go to Tiburon in search of …show more content…
August teaches Lily both life lessons and bee etiquette while she stays with the sisters in Tiburon South Carolina. Shortly after Lily and Rosaleen's arrival, August tells Lily the story of the nun Beatrix. After Lily asks what happened to the nun, August replies, “ Well, one day, after years of wandering and suffering, she disguised herself and went back to her old covenant[...]’”(Kidd 91). After hearing this story Lily realizes that it's about her and what she has done. This story teaches Lily that even after doing something such as running away you can always be forgiven by those who truly love you. August teaches Lily many pivotal life lessons while at The Boatwright household including the story about the nun, however, August also makes Lily feel accepted for once in her life. At home in Sylvan Lily is the misfit in school, she doesn't have a mother so she can't do what other girls do ultimately making her feel like an outsider looking in. Whereas with August she feels like she is part of something for once in her life. Leading up to the climax of the novel, Lily is tending to the bees with August, there she gets stung on the arm and makes a realization about her place on the “farm”. As a result of being stung August says, “‘Count yourself initiated,’ she said. ‘You can't be a
While Lily’s mom is not physically “there” in her life she is always with Lily in spirit. After lying restless in bed one evening Lily decides to go out to the orchard to look at her mother's items she had found earlier. While out there T. Ray catches her and makes her go inside and kneel on the grits. Lily thinks to herself about the objects and how she hid them under her shirt, “I felt waxed paper with my mother's picture inside and her gloves stuck to my belly, and it seemed all of a sudden like my mother was there, up against my body, like she was bits and pieces of insulation molded against my skin, helping me absorb all his meanness,” (Kidd 24). Without the presence of these objects and Deborah on her mind, Lily would not be able to make it through things like kneeling on the grits. This event helps to reveal that a mother's presence is crucial in a young girl's life. Later on in the novel, T.Ray tells Lily that her mother left her and ran away so Lily goes into her room to contemplate this newfound idea. Suddenly Lily hears, “Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open”(Kidd 41). This one sentence inspires her to do what she has always wanted to do: find out the truth. Lily feels that this voice was her mother telling her than it is her opportunity to leave Sylvan South Carolina and go to Tiburon in search of …show more content…
August teaches Lily both life lessons and bee etiquette while she stays with the sisters in Tiburon South Carolina. Shortly after Lily and Rosaleen's arrival, August tells Lily the story of the nun Beatrix. After Lily asks what happened to the nun, August replies, “ Well, one day, after years of wandering and suffering, she disguised herself and went back to her old covenant[...]’”(Kidd 91). After hearing this story Lily realizes that it's about her and what she has done. This story teaches Lily that even after doing something such as running away you can always be forgiven by those who truly love you. August teaches Lily many pivotal life lessons while at The Boatwright household including the story about the nun, however, August also makes Lily feel accepted for once in her life. At home in Sylvan Lily is the misfit in school, she doesn't have a mother so she can't do what other girls do ultimately making her feel like an outsider looking in. Whereas with August she feels like she is part of something for once in her life. Leading up to the climax of the novel, Lily is tending to the bees with August, there she gets stung on the arm and makes a realization about her place on the “farm”. As a result of being stung August says, “‘Count yourself initiated,’ she said. ‘You can't be a