The Secret Life Of Bees Literary Devices Essay

Sue Monk Kidd has a way of providing literary devices through her novel. These literary devices help convey her story throughout the whole book, bringing the reader into the story. Her use of these compliment her novel The Secret Life of Bees and take on a message deeper than the simple words placed onto pages. Her novel contains all of the above literary devices, and even though they are not all used often, their purpose serves a great amount. Although many of these devices are performed, Kidd often references the bees. In the story, Kidd uses these bees as a symbol. As a 14-year old white girl, Lily is the character represented by the bees, and their freedom but sometimes captivity. In the beginning of the book, Lily talks to Rosaleen about

From her point of view, Lily frequently uses metaphors to describe her surroundings, feelings, and emotions. “I was seeing myself as the fire department and June as the raging inferno” (Kidd 169). This was when Lily knew that she was going down the wrong path to spray June Boatwright, but she was not able to hold herself back to stop. They then begin to fight over the sprinkler, but halfway through their wrestling, June realized that she was fighting a fourteen-year old girl over a sprinkler. She then realized that there was no point so they then began to warm up to each other. Metaphors are used through the whole book. Another example is when Lily was learning about her mother from August. She compares the knowledge to a curse on someone’s life, and how she “traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth” (Kidd 255). She gave up her lies of being Lily Williams because she was tired of lying and she wanted the truth, so she finally told August the truth. However, on the next page (256), Lily compares a “suitcase of lies” to the strength it took to carry lies around. She asks herself if it is easier to carry the truth or lies, but once you pick up the truth, you cannot go back to pick up the