Thelonious Monk

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…

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 temperatures and people were surrounded by oppression. During this humid summer a young girl named Lily Owens runs away from her abusive father T. Ray, in search of her mother's past and the truth behind her tragic…

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…

Forgiveness does not always mean to forget. A traumatic event in someone’s life can often determine how they develop their relationships between the people around them. In the novel Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kid, the main character Lily and her father T-ray were both haunted by memories of her late mother. Being insecure and unassured, Lily had no friends, and the overbearing abuse from her farther lead her to run away to Tiburon with her housekeeper Rosaline. Towards the end of…

People grow through experiences and challenges. In the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily also matured and grew up during the book. Three examples of how Lily matured and grew are becoming understanding, hard working and independence. “I turned my pillow over and over for the coolness, thinking about May and her wall and what the world had come to that a person needed something like that” (Pg 98 Kidd, Sue Monk). This quote symbolizes understanding because Lily is beginning to realize that…

the story Lily is trying to find her place and the find her mother figure she’s been missing in her life. The metaphor of bees going into a frenzy when they lose their queen is used to describe Lily’s and especially T. Ray’s life without Deborah. Sue Monk Kidd specifically chose bees to represent Lily’s and T. Ray’s struggle without their “queen”.…

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…