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The Secret Life Of Bees Hierarchy Of Needs Analysis

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“One can choose to go back towards safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” (Abraham Maslow) Even though Maslow 's hierarchy of needs starts from the bottom which is physiological needs and goes all the way to the top of self-actualization, in reality, the hierarchy of needs does not go from the bottom to the top in a systematic order. It can go all the way to the top and crash down to the floor. Fulfillment of needs can come and go, striving for it will get you there. In the novel, “The Secret Life of Bees,” by Sue Monk Kidd, the needs of Lily Owens, the protagonist, transitions from unmet to unabridged fulfillment by the end of the novel making her content with the life …show more content…

She was in the room, with him, on her birthday, and yet all she got was the silent scream that yelled at her saying that not T. Ray, not anyone cares or loves her. To build upon the lack of attention or the sense of belonging Lily got, it is essential to show how she thinks about herself. After all that Lily went through, even after leaving all the haunting environment, when Lily confesses everything to August it was as though she was reliving all the tragic events in her life. Her mind was racing with so many emotions all at once. Then she heard a voice in her say what she always believed, “It said, You are unlovable, Lily Owens. Unlovable. Who could love you? Who in this world could ever love you? I sank down, onto my heels, hardly aware of myself mumbling the words out loud. ‘I am unlovable.’”(pg. 242) The act of Lily sinking down on her knees shows how much of a deep cut the need of love and belonging has caused her because of it being unmet. These two excerpts from the novel illustrate how Lily’s need

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