The Secret Life Of Bees Literary Devices Essay

In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Kidd incorporates the literary technique of allusion to assist the reader in delving into Lily’s thought process. Furthermore, to incorporate allusion, Kidd compares the message Lily interpreted from the arrival of the bees in her room to the plagues God sent to the pharaoh Ramesses. Lily ponders:

The figurative language in the novel, The Secret Life Of Bees, defines the father, T. Ray, as controlling, because of his actions and emotions towards Lily. T. Ray is Lily’s father who punishes his child by making her kneel on Martha Whites, which are coarsely ground up corn flakes that feel like powdered glass, and dig into Lily’s knees as she kneels on them. After the hour that Lily kneels there, as Rosaleen takes a look at her knees and on page twenty six he marches in “despising” and “full of anger.” Lily thought that he could have still loved her after her mother’s death, but now he treats her as though he can control her into his will and doesn’t treat her as a father should. The words that are used to describe his emotions show just

“They were pure and innocent—something that wasn’t often found in this world of greed, disgrace, and self-gratification” (Preston 88). Clover often thought of the girls in his cellar as flowers; his mother taught him that flowers were pure and beautiful, and that is what he wanted his family to be similar too. One night, Summer Robinson is walking alone in the dark, something her crazy-hot-protective boyfriend ☺ always tells her not to do. She suddenly hears and sees a man walking toward her saying “Lily”, and he soon calls her Lily. Because of this, Summer feels uneasy and tries to find an escape route; the man kidnaps her and brings her to his cellar. This is the place where she meets 3 other girls, Poppy, Rose, and Violet. Now the conflicts

One character that Sue Monk Kidd uses to portray the theme, is the main character Lily. In the beginning of the story, the author shows that Lily can be both mature and immature at times. An example of her maturity in the text is when she says, “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life” (Kidd 2). Although Lily is young, she feels that she has the right to make this statement because she has already experienced so much in her life. With that being said, people may judge Lily because of what she says or does but that is because not everyone knows about

Throughout The Secret Life of Bees bees play a recurring role in the novel, repeatably being mentioned during the novel in epigrams before the start of each chapter and within the story itself. Unfortunately, on certain occasions the reason why bees are included in a certain part of the story can be unclear and confusing to readers, causing them to occasionally misinterpret the importance of bees throughout the novel. Regardless, the bees throughout play a very important role in understanding many of the themes and symbolism that Kidd included within the novel. In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd symbolizes Lily’s experiences and situations through the bees frequently present in the novel to show that seemingly different things can function in the same way.

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.

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

Throughout the entire novel, the author’s use of literary devices is very clear. These literary devices, specifically similes and personification, help the reader get a better idea of the exact sounds and feelings which will allow them to know what it feels like to be there in that moment.

The use of symbolism is often used by authors to show a deeper meaning to an object within a story. These enhancements to the meaning of objects gives readers insight to what is really being represented. Although they may seem vague, they create a path to better understanding of characters and scenarios within a story. A proper use of this technique can be witnessed in Lord of the Flies. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, symbolism is used to depict a greater meaning within the objects that appear throughout the novel.

Coming of age can be defined as an person’s journey of facing challenges that make them into a mature individual. Although coming of age is a different experience for each individual, some experiences are commonly found among pieces of work. Common experiences of coming of age are demonstrated in Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier, involving Lizabeth’s loss of innocence, the struggle of internal conflict in Sue Monk Kidd’s, The Secret Life of Bees, and Mattie Ross’ journey of coming of age in True Grit by Charles Portis.

In such a diverse world where different races come together and interact, the early 1960s reveal society’s surprised reaction to these relationships. Interracial relationships are strongly frowned upon during this time, almost as if they are illegal. Fortunately, over time, people begin to accept those with different backgrounds and can easily communicate with each other. Hardships are still present today, but society in moving in a better direction. Also, society is turning more towards religion as guidance and strength to move along in life. Sue Kidd Monk prove these views and incorporates her own perspective of society. In her novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd reveals the complexity and

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

Flowers seem to have an inherent sexual structuralization when spoken of from the perspective of man. Her moments under the pear tree, the twinkling of bees (an actor of the grand filming of pollination : the first god of life) in the wet setting of her adolescence births a celestialism of nakedness that dawns a pretty perversion; Janie confides herself in this fragrance of ghosting pleasures. She revels in the skinny tears of lewd lightings that she finds even in the greatest forms of misshapened love.

HEENT: Head is normocephalic; PERRLA, EOMs intact, sclera clear, conjunctiva unremarkable. TM’s dull, grey, with cone of light reflex bil. Nares patent, oral mucosa pink and moist. All teeth present except final set of molars upper and lower. Good dental hygiene.