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Lily Owens Character Analysis Essay

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The Character of Lily Melissa Owens in Sue Monk Kidd's
The Secret Life of Bees

The novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd tells a story about a 14-year old Lily Melissa Owens. Lily is a white girl growing up in 1964 South Carolina in the midst of a period of segregation. When first introduced into the novel, the reader learns all of the troubles of Lily's life - being abused and mistreated by her father, being treated as if she wasn't a little girl, and being left with the burden of killing her mother. After running away from her father with Rosaleen, her black nanny, Lily comes to realize qualities about herself she had never noticed. Lily's resourcefulness, ability to overcome prejudice, and capacity to forgive others are shown throughout the novel. …show more content…

At the beginning of the novel, Lily is a very flat character - we don't get to see the full potential Lily has to offer. A shift in the story is shown whenever Lily accompanies Rosaleen to sign up to vote. Thus far, we don't get to see Lily shine as a true round character. After Rosaleen gets thrown into jail we see Lily breakaway from her usual self and starts to really become resourceful. She schemes about how to break Rosaleen out; she plans their route away from Sylvan in search of Black Mary, and her mother. Lily's ability to think on her feet and consider the tasks ahead of her help Lily to grow as a

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