Character Analysis Of Lily Bart

In the story “Lily Daw and the Three Ladies”, we are introduced to our three ladies who are: Mrs. Carson, Mrs. Watts and Aimee. These three ladies speak about a young girl who seems to have some sort of disability or as mentioned in the story was “feebleminded”, this young girl goes by name of Lily Daw. I assume that Lily has a disability not only because the three ladies are trying to send her to this mental institute for the “feebleminded” but because the author portrays Lily’s character with a very special tone of voice and her character is also not able to make-out correct full sentences like the rest of the characters in the story. The author Eudora Welty introduces this story as, “a half-witted girl in the grip of social forces represented by a group of earnest ladies bent on doing the best thing for her, no matter what the consequences”

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, is an interesting story that connects human lives to bees. The story takes place in 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement and fourteen year-old Lily Owens leaves her abusive father and her home in Sylvan, South Carolina to go to Tiburon with hopes to find information on her mother. Throughout the story, Lily struggles with many internal conflicts and also meets several mother figures along the way. In the story, Kidd’s use of characterization successfully reveals the theme that people's lives are more complex than they appear. Kidd demonstrates this theme using the characterization of Lily, T. Ray, May, and Deborah.

She has always been wealthy, and always aspired to be wealthy. She is used to living in luxury, and is dependent on Tom to provide for her. When describing Daisy's voice, Gatsby says, “Her mouth is full of money” (Fitzgerald 120), meaning even her voice sounds like the stereotypical wealthy person’s. Daisy also reveals her hollowness as a person when she says “I hope she’ll be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). In this quote, Daisy demonstrates the hollowness of the upper class by hoping her daughter will be a fool instead of a proper young lady. She believes the upper class does not value intelligent woman, so she believes her daughter will have a better life if she acts how the social standard wants her to

Mental Illness affects an immense amount of individuals no matter their race, culture or age. It is everywhere we go, yet still an issue some choose to ignore; whether it is the person facing the illness or those around them. People handle their sickness in a variety of ways. Some by using violence as their only answer, others run away from their issue and majority choose to accept and make the best of it. After reading the novel The Secret Life of Bees, it would be easy to think that the main theme is discrimination or family, but in reality it is actually focused on the toll that mental illness takes on a family. The protagonist of this novel, Lily Owens, has always had a troublesome life. Both her parents, Terrence Owens, also known as T. Ray, and Deborah Fontanel are ridden with illness, sadly caused from each other. Lily also meets a new family in this novel after running away from her cruel father who abuses her. This family is also dealing with mental illness. August Boatwright is a member of this family and has been surrounded by this sickness for more than half of her life. Two of her sisters have this problem and it has genuinely affected August for better or worse.

Lizabeth is one to experience the formidable changes of flourishing into a grown woman, as can be seen throughout the story of ‘Marigolds’ by Eugenia Collier. Growing up in the decrepit time of the Great Depression, Lizabeth was unacquainted of the world outside her shanty neighborhood. Society’s burdened responsibility was thrusted upon her, though her childishness persona. Her callowness and immaturity demeanor ceased to exist when an act of sudden revelation ensued, she loses innocence-gaining her conscious mind of womanhood.

Eudora Welty’s short story, Lily Daw and The Three Ladies is about a mentally retarded young girl who has decided to make a big life decision. This causes conflict with the three ladies that have helped taken care of her since her mother died, because they too have made a decision for Lily without her knowledge. The main focus of the story is love in relation to society. Welty uses lily and the three ladies to argue the strict societal values that the ladies follow and how lily is a free spirit.

Lily was raised being unknowingly racist while being abused by her father, T. Ray. Readers can conclude that Lily’s father has cruel ways to punish Lily, an example is, “I’d been kneeling on grits since I was six, but I still never got used to that powdered glass feeling beneath my skin” (24). Being raised in one of the most racist towns in South Carolina, Sylvan, Lily, like every other child living in South Carolina, was born into racism. Lily has never had a problem with black people, but feels like she sticks out while she was at the Boatwright sister’s house, “Staying in a colored house with colored women, eating off their dishes, lying on their sheets-it was not something I was against, but I was brand new to it, and my skin never felt

Almost every child has thought about running away from home at least once in their life, if not more. Although this usually is an empty threat, for Lily Owens, the protagonist in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, it was a milestone. The summer of 1964 marked the year she finally realized there was nothing holding her back from escaping her abusive father. As she leaves home for her journey, she takes her African American, motherlike housekeeper with her, who was in jail for insulting some racists. Together, they find their way to three beekeeping sisters, one of which helps Lily to finally understand what happened to her late mother. Lily begins helpless and afraid, but as she makes her way through the segregated South, she finds self

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.”-Thomas Carlyle. In the novel Secret Life of Bees, Lily is a harmless, kind hearted girl who has experienced much in the short life she has lived. The last time Lily has felt kindness, gentleness, and love was when her mother was alive. “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life (2).” Lily is lost in her head, she doesn't know how to stick up for herself. She takes in all the abuse, both mentally and physically from T.Ray and she blames everything on herself. Throughout the novel Lily gains her confidence, bravery and strength by standing up to the challenges she faces throughout experiencing new cultures and way of knowledge.

Some people feel unwanted, as if they don’t belong. Often they have just not found the right place to reside. Sue Monk Kidd, author of, “The Secret Life of Bees” which discusses a girl named Lily who grew up with her abusive father and the guilt of accidentally murdering her own mother. She never felt at home, especially because she hand many questions about her mother, Deborah. She ran away with her nanny, Rosaleen, in hopes of finding a place to call home. In “The Secret Life of Bees,” Sue Monk Kidd’s use of pathos gives her the ability to portray the purpose that one day everybody will have a place to call home, no matter one’s past life or skin color; she takes her audience deeper into this purpose by using the strategies of foreshadowing

In the book “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, it’s about a little girl who is pressured by her mother to become something she doesn’t want to be. Jing- mei , the daughter, is forced to become a prodigy(child actress), by her mother, and she doesn’t want to be one. In the story, Jing- meis’ mother uses allusions such as Shirley Temple to push her into becoming a prodigy. Although at first Jing- mei is excited to become a prodigy, she later realizes its something she just doesn’t enjoy doing. Consequently, the uses of allusion in the story help Jing- mei discover to not be a prodigy and that what her mother wants for her is not always important. However, some of the things her mother showed and did got her excited to become this.

Lily from The Secret Life of Bees and Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird are two strong, memorable characters who are different, but they have a lot in common. Though they face difficult situations because of the loss of their mothers, they learn to cope with life in the south. The authors of these books created two distinctive characters, with many similarities and differences, both of whom are loved by readers.

Throughout her memoir, Jeannette had multiple occasions were herself or her siblings would have to fend for themselves, because Rex or Rose Mary refused to hold on to a job. For example “When we wanted money, we walked along the roadside picking up beer cans and bottles that we redeemed for two cents each.” (p.

She had to take matters into her own hands and she was well aware of that. After putting her foot down in front of her parents, she made a decision,“... the next day I’d go to G.C. Murphy and buy a pink plastic piggy bank I’d seen there. I’d put in the seventy-five dollars I had managed to save while working at Becker’s Jewel Box. It would be the beginning of my escape fund” (Walls 221). This continued, as she worked multiple jobs and poured her savings into the piggy bank for New York. Even when her father betrayed her and her oldest sister Lori by taking their savings, Jeanette got back up from the hit and began the fund again. The strike by her father would not be the final

Life is filled with challenges and conflict. However only a few can overcome and escape the confinements of their problems, others remain left behind to struggle. Sue Monk Kidd displays this with the imprisonment that Lily deals with throughout the book. While Lily does finds liberation at the end, she first had to break free from the imprisonments of her secrets, T-Ray, and the torment from killing her mother.