The Secret Life of Bees is an intense novel following the life of a young girl named Lily Owens. The suspenseful events throughout push the story to a dramatic yet expected ending. It includes a series of important characters, symbols and motifs, themes, and conflicts. Lily Owens is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. She lives a troubled life but views it blindly as decent living. She lost her mother at a young age and she now lives with her father, T. Ray, and nanny, Rosaleen. Lily deals with the loss of her mother with the only memories she has, pictures and a pair of gloves, which she keeps secret from her father. T. Ray is brutal and disciplines Lily very harshly for insignificant actions. Deborah is Lily's mom who was tragically
…show more content…
These symbols can also act as motifs as they are repeated throughout the novel: bees and Virgin Mary. The bees act as Lily's reason to run away. When she was swarmed by them in her room and T. Ray did not react to it the way she wanted she began to trap them. Lily realizes the harm she has done and decides to let them out but being that they were used to the jar now they stayed until they finally realized what they were in. This symbolizes her running away because Lily finally realizes the bad situation she has been in and decides it is finally her time to leave her own entrapment, living with T. Ray. A mother figure next symbolizes what Lily imagined her mother to be. She became victim of the dream world she tried to live and was upset when it came to an end when the truth was exposed. She had many other women, Rosaleen and August, who fulfilled this void in her life but also unveiled her to the validity that needed to come. The black Virgin Mary is repeated throughout the book from the first picture left by Lily’s mother to the statue in the Boatwright sisters’ house. Mary symbolizes the voice of self confidence and women empowerment that is found inside of Lily, Rosaleen, and the Boatwright women. These ideas grow over time as Lily starts out with the idea that women must act a certain way and marry a man to please
These symbols can also act as motifs as they are repeated throughout the novel: bees and Virgin Mary. The bees act as Lily's reason to run away. When she was swarmed by them in her room and T. Ray did not react to it the way she wanted she began to trap them. Lily realizes the harm she has done and decides to let them out but being that they were used to the jar now they stayed until they finally realized what they were in. This symbolizes her running away because Lily finally realizes the bad situation she has been in and decides it is finally her time to leave her own entrapment, living with T. Ray. A mother figure next symbolizes what Lily imagined her mother to be. She became victim of the dream world she tried to live and was upset when it came to an end when the truth was exposed. She had many other women, Rosaleen and August, who fulfilled this void in her life but also unveiled her to the validity that needed to come. The black Virgin Mary is repeated throughout the book from the first picture left by Lily’s mother to the statue in the Boatwright sisters’ house. Mary symbolizes the voice of self confidence and women empowerment that is found inside of Lily, Rosaleen, and the Boatwright women. These ideas grow over time as Lily starts out with the idea that women must act a certain way and marry a man to please