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Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

1067 Words5 Pages

What does it take to unlock a heart of stone? A pink house, hundreds of bees, and three unique beekeepers. These things are what turned fourteen year-old Lily’s heart of stone to a heart of pure gold. Set in the 1960s, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees introduces Lily, a typical teenager with a troubled past, who bases her life around an image of her mother, a pair of white gloves, and a picture of a African-American Mary with an address. As Lily and Rosaleen run away from her father and the law, they are taken away to a whirling world of bees and three ladies who open Lily’s eyes to a new world of forgiveness and what it means to have unconditional love. Sue Monk Kidd’s heroine Lily Owens undergoes a transformation from being a …show more content…

Tired of lying to August, Lily decides to tell the truth to her, and find out about her mother, Deborah, hoping to hear exactly what she had pictured. As Lily unfolds the truth about her mother’s past, she becomes frustrated learning that she wasn’t up to her expectations. Lily wishes that her mother had “been smart enough, or loving enough, to realize everybody has burdens that crush them, only they don't give up their children” (278). Furious, she believes her mother is a blind and foolish person who doesn't know what love is. Hurt by the truth, Lily realizes that “once you know the truth, you can't ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now” (255). Disappointed, Lily’s image of her perfect and loving mother fades away. August then states that Deborah came back for Lily, hoping to take her away from her father. Knowing this, Lily then understands, and forgives her, with some troubles. She chooses to “forgive us both, although sometimes in the night my dreams will take me back to the sadness, and I have to wake up and forgive us again” (301). By forgiving, Lily understands that everyone is human, and even though her mother isn’t in her presence, she will always love her. By telling the truth to August and opening up about her emotions, Lily Owens proves to mature from a hesitant, questioning teen to an understanding young

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“I still tell myself that when he drove away that day he wasn't saying good riddance; he was saying, Oh, Lily, you're better off there in that house of colored women. You never would've flowered with me like you will with them.” (Kidd 531) Lily imagined that T. Ray thought she would have a better life with the sisters she loved so much rather than living with

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Lily ponders the idea of why it is so difficult for people to forgive. There is someone else Lily must forgive: herself. Lily's first reaction, when August tells her Deborah married T. Ray because she was pregnant with Lily, is that it was all her fault that Deborah was burdened with such a terrible husband. Then, when Lily tells August her story about how she happened to come to the Boatright house, she explains with tears and misery that she hates herself and is a worthless person who isn't worthy of love. Before she can become whole and love herself, Lily must forgive herself for killing her mother, and she must understand that this was an accident that she can't go back and fix.

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Lily then consequently comes to find that the tables are turned and that her mother is the one who is in need of forgiveness. She shows her struggle by saying, “people in general would rather die than forgive” (Kidd 277). Capriciously, she contemplates the situation thinking for one moment “it is over and done,” but in the next she “would be picturing her in the pink house, or out by the wailing wall” (Kidd 278). Ultimately, after her entire debacle, with thrown honey jars as well as many headaches, Lily comes to learn that “you have to find a mother inside yourself” (Kidd 288). This idea sets Lily at ease giving her the knowledge that everything is going to be peaceful from this moment on and that she can take the time to learn to forgive others, just as she has to learn to forgive

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The book “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd is a book about a fourteen-year-old white girl named Lily Owens who lives on a peach farm in Sylvan, South Carolina with her father T. Ray who is abusive and neglectful. Lily lives with a secret that many people do not know about, she believes she shot and killed, Deborah, her mother when she was just four years old. This memory has been haunting her for many years, and she would like to learn more about her mother. Ever since Deborah passed away, Rosaleen, Lily’s nanny, has been taking care of her. When the Civil Rights Act was signed, Rosaleen decided she would go and register to vote.

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In this passage, Kidd characterized Lily as immature, and a primary trace of this characterization can be spotted at the very beginning of the passage, where Lily questions “How dare she? How dare she leave me? I was her child.” (Kidd 259). The interrogative syntax in this monologue suggests that Lily is still confused as to why her mom left her, even after August spent time explaining it to her.

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1311 Words | 6 Pages

Her consideration of the town’s thoughts indicates that August is self-conscious of other people’s judgment. As a result, she allows this consciousness to cloud her judgment for a split second before reaching a final decision. Lily, finally understanding, says “‘All this time I just figured you liked pink’ . . . She laughed again” (Kidd 147). Combined with the use of short syntax, it proves once again that August is caring, acknowledging that Lily is able to grip what she said,

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“A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love” (Connie May Fowler). This quote reflects the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd because the protagonist in the story, Lily Owens, her mother have died when she was four years old and she didn’t feel loved by her abusive father, T. Ray Owens, until she met the Boatwrights family with the housekeeper, Rosaleen, and stayed with them. The Boatwrights family are the three black sisters who are August, May, and June. This novel took place in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily grew up and where she found the answer to her questions.

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Secret Life Of Bees Quotes

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It doesn’t take a wizard to see Zach loves you. And every one of the Daughters loves you” (Kidd 242). August makes Lily feel better and clears her conscience about her mother. Later in the story, Lily gets confirmation she did kill her mother from T-Ray, but, because August talked to Lily, she was not completely distraught. In conclusion, August impacts Lily in a good way and helps her with her mom.

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1401 Words | 6 Pages

The Secret Lives of People 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.

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