Most people form impressions based on the race of a person. Do you? The Secret Life of Bees is a story of a fourteen-year-old girl who runs away from her mean and unloving father to find information about her mother's past. Lily and her housekeeper, Rosaleen, stay with the Boatwright sisters, three 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
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Laying down Lily thinks, “T.Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think about was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this” (78). The author used Lily's father T.Ray to illustrate stereotypes. Since he believed that a colored person could not be as smart as he, Lily grew up believing the same thing. When she meets August and gets to know her it shocks Lily that a person of color is so smart and cultured. After staying with the Boatwrights she gets to know and love August and May. June on the other hand she had a hard time getting to know. June has a very hard shell to break she doesn't try to get to know Lily so Lily didn’t try to get to know her. One night when Lily gets up to go to the bathroom she overhears August and June talking about her. When June makes a comment about Lily's race Lily is shocked and thinks to herself, “This was a great revelation-not that I was …show more content…
When August allows Lily to say in the Boatwright household June gets upset, she does not want a white girl staying in her house. One night when August and June are talking and August tells June everything will be fine and to just let things play out, June's response is “But she’s white, August” (87). June doesn't care about Lily or what kind of trouble she could be in she just doesn’t want her in her house. On Sundays August has a church group over called the daughters of Mary, they hold a little prayer session in the parlor with the lady of chains. Each of the daughters walked up and place their hands over Mary's heart well June plays the piano. Well Lily’s waiting to go up she thinks, “I wanted to touch her vanishing red heart, too, as much as anything I’d ever wanted” (111). She wants to touch Mary’s heart and be like all the other daughters. When Lily goes up she is shocked at what june does. Here is how she describes what happened, “As I rose from my chair, my head was still swimming some. I walked toward black Mary with my hand lifted. But just as I was just about to reach her, June stopped playing. She stopped right in the middle of the song, and I was left in the silence with my hand stretched out’’ (111). June stopped playing when Lily went up because she didn’t want to include Lily in things, especially things that meant something to her. No matter the
Laying down Lily thinks, “T.Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think about was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this” (78). The author used Lily's father T.Ray to illustrate stereotypes. Since he believed that a colored person could not be as smart as he, Lily grew up believing the same thing. When she meets August and gets to know her it shocks Lily that a person of color is so smart and cultured. After staying with the Boatwrights she gets to know and love August and May. June on the other hand she had a hard time getting to know. June has a very hard shell to break she doesn't try to get to know Lily so Lily didn’t try to get to know her. One night when Lily gets up to go to the bathroom she overhears August and June talking about her. When June makes a comment about Lily's race Lily is shocked and thinks to herself, “This was a great revelation-not that I was …show more content…
When August allows Lily to say in the Boatwright household June gets upset, she does not want a white girl staying in her house. One night when August and June are talking and August tells June everything will be fine and to just let things play out, June's response is “But she’s white, August” (87). June doesn't care about Lily or what kind of trouble she could be in she just doesn’t want her in her house. On Sundays August has a church group over called the daughters of Mary, they hold a little prayer session in the parlor with the lady of chains. Each of the daughters walked up and place their hands over Mary's heart well June plays the piano. Well Lily’s waiting to go up she thinks, “I wanted to touch her vanishing red heart, too, as much as anything I’d ever wanted” (111). She wants to touch Mary’s heart and be like all the other daughters. When Lily goes up she is shocked at what june does. Here is how she describes what happened, “As I rose from my chair, my head was still swimming some. I walked toward black Mary with my hand lifted. But just as I was just about to reach her, June stopped playing. She stopped right in the middle of the song, and I was left in the silence with my hand stretched out’’ (111). June stopped playing when Lily went up because she didn’t want to include Lily in things, especially things that meant something to her. No matter the