The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a novel takes place in 1964 down in South Carolina. A teenage white girl, Lily Owens, and the black woman who raised her, Rosaleen, broke out of jail and fled to Tiburon, South Carolina to escape her past. Throughout the book there are events that shape her: Lily lying about her identity, when she finds out about her mother, and when her father finds Lily. Lily and Rosaleen arrive in Tiburon after running from the police because of a situation that took place back in their hometown. As soon as they arrive, they find the pink house where three sisters live: August, May and June. Lily decided it would be best for her to lie about her past. This event negatively impacted Lily. During chapter four
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This occurrence has a positive impact on Lily even though she became morose about it for a while. “I’d spent my life imagining all of the ways she loved me, what a perfect specimen of a mother she was. And all of it was lies. I had completely made her up” (251-252). Finding out about her mother filled a whole in her heart that was put there because of the lack of information about her mother. The filling in of the holes about her mother was a shock to her because of how T.Ray refused to even speak of her and the details. It might have seemed like it negatively impacted Lily, but it had the exact opposite. People sometimes need time to sulk about something in order to heal from it; Lily was hurt by the fact that her mother left without her, but while she was sad she was able to come to peace with the fact of it. Later on in the section, August gives Lily a box of Deborah’s belongings. “I figured May must’ve made it to heaven and explained to my mother about the sign I wanted. The one would let me know I was loved” (276). Lily asked for a sign earlier on and ever since she found out her mother left her when she first ran away she became bitter and angry at the world. This box full of memories was the sign that she needed. Throughout the whole novel she questioned if her parents loved her and now that she knows that her mother actually does. This event made Lily bitter at first but then helped her to realize that she really was loved by her mother even though she left her at
This occurrence has a positive impact on Lily even though she became morose about it for a while. “I’d spent my life imagining all of the ways she loved me, what a perfect specimen of a mother she was. And all of it was lies. I had completely made her up” (251-252). Finding out about her mother filled a whole in her heart that was put there because of the lack of information about her mother. The filling in of the holes about her mother was a shock to her because of how T.Ray refused to even speak of her and the details. It might have seemed like it negatively impacted Lily, but it had the exact opposite. People sometimes need time to sulk about something in order to heal from it; Lily was hurt by the fact that her mother left without her, but while she was sad she was able to come to peace with the fact of it. Later on in the section, August gives Lily a box of Deborah’s belongings. “I figured May must’ve made it to heaven and explained to my mother about the sign I wanted. The one would let me know I was loved” (276). Lily asked for a sign earlier on and ever since she found out her mother left her when she first ran away she became bitter and angry at the world. This box full of memories was the sign that she needed. Throughout the whole novel she questioned if her parents loved her and now that she knows that her mother actually does. This event made Lily bitter at first but then helped her to realize that she really was loved by her mother even though she left her at