Sue Monk Kidd

In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, the author makes me admire Lily the most. Since the beginning of the novel, she was very loving and curious. When she first saw the huge flock of bees flying above her in her room, her first response wasn’t to swat or kill the bees, but to watch them and try to figure why, how, and where the bees were flying to. She always treated everyone and everything with respect and care. When Rosaleen had just moved in, T. Ray was very abusive, mean, and very cruel to…

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…

There are many secret meanings to words and things all throughout The Secret Life of Bees. In this novel, the title relates to the book in a way that might take the readers by surprise. The bees have a secret life outside of making honey, it’s a life humans just don’t understand. A bee hive represents people working together. The hive is overseen by the queen, which acts as a mother to the bees. When the queen bee dies she can be replaced, even though all the bees are lost without her. If…

In the beginning of The Secret Life of Bees, we see Lily Owens as a childish teenager. Lily lives in a racist southern town and runs away from her home to leave her abusive father and she is also in search of the truth about what happened to her mother. Throughout the book, Lily learns to be more confident and mature. The nature of her growth to a secure person is greatly affected by her relationships. These relationships force Lily to undergo difficult emotions, but also help her become more…

The Secret Life of Bees follows Lily Owens, a 14-year-old girl, who lives a very difficult life. She believes she caused her mother’s death and is searching for the truth, but she does not get any answers from her father, T. Ray, who abuses her throughout her childhood. Lily eventually becomes fed up with the abuse and Lily and Rosaleen, their maid, run away to Tiburon, South Carolina in hopes of finding the truth about her mother’s death. In Tiburon Lily learns many life lessons, including the…

Since Lily has been taken in by the Boatwright sisters, May, June and August in The Secret Life of Bees, conclusions have been drawn about all three individual sister, each possesing diverse qualities that are easily shown throughout the story. August Boatwright is a welcoming and understanding older sister that takes care of the honey company along with Lily, Rosaleen and her two other sisters. August has taken it upon herself to give them a welcoming stay and convince June that Lily is no…

never show up. In the book, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, June although stubborn and selective with a pain of the past, opens up to new people and commitments. June had always struggled with the pain of her past. She had a hard time excepting new people into her life because she was scared they would reject her. “She was supposed to get married to somebody else a long time ago,” said May. “But he didn't show up for the wedding.” (Kidd 130) This made it hard for her to except people…

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…

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.…