Conflict In The Secret Life Of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a book discussing the internal strife of a young white girl, in a very racist 1960’s south. The main character, Lily Owens, faces many problems she must overcome, including her personal dilemma of killing her own mother in an accident. Sue Monk Kidd accurately displays the irrationality of racism in the South during mid- 1960's not only by using beautiful language, but very thoroughly developed plot and character development. Kidd shows the irrationality of racism through the characters in her book, The Secret Life of Bees and shows that even during that time period, some unique people, were able to see beyond the heavy curtain of racism that separated people from each

The equality between the blacks and whites was a slow progression in American history. The majority of white people were prejudice against black people causing many disputes. In the novel Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Owens, who was a young white girl who was able to overcome the social constraints against black people, like the Boatwright sisters. Firstly, even though Lily is a different race than the sisters, they allow her to stay in their home and care for her. Secondly, Lily felt more comfortable with the Boatwright sisters than her father. Thirdly, Lily and the sisters develop a mutual respect for each other. As a result, the relationship between Lily and the Boatwright sisters shows that the colour of skin does

People make decisions everyday from simple things like whether or not to eat breakfast or larger decisions like whether or not to take the new promotion at work. These decisions are usually dawned upon us suddenly and we look to others to help decipher which decision is the ideal decision. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Melissa Owens is actuated by a variety of characters to make both ambiguous and venerable judgments throughout the novel. She did not do this on her own for she had people in her life communicating with her to finalize the verdicts on her decisions. Some of the persuaders were T. Ray, May, June, August, Zach, the Daughters of Mary, and even her mother, Deborah Fontanel Owens. Saying that, they all

"New beekeepers are told that the way to find the elusive queen is by first locating her circle of attendants." (57) This quote is at the beginning of chapter three and not only foreshadows many things to come, but within the quote, two of the novel’s main metaphors are mentioned, bees and the queen, which is referring to society and a mother figure. Although this quote is largely interpreted as a metaphor for Lily looking for a new queen or mother figure, and perhaps August being that mother, I believe that it has another meaning as well. I believe that the Black Madonna also serves as a “queen” and mother figure to all the women in “The Secret Life of Bees.”

Picture being the cause of a life-changing event including the loss of the woman who gave birth to you ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ was by Sue Monk Kidd. The main characters are Lily Owens, T Ray Owens, Rosaleen Daise, and August and June Boatwright. It is 1964 in Sylvan, South Carolina, and Lily Owens, a fourteen-year-old white girl, lives on a peach farm with her father, T. Ray, who is both neglectful and abusive. There are Bees that seem to be at home with her, often visit Lily. Lily Owens takes part in on the desperate search for answers about her mother lead to the discovery of how powerful love can transcend through a strong female community, overcoming racism and how a tiny bee may teach bigger life lessons.

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees (2001), Sue Kidd creates a character, Terrence Ray Owens, that serves as the epitome of internal conflict. Kidd is able to show Terrence’s internal conflict through through a flashback from Lily’s friend August, and a series of violent actions inflicted on his daughter Lily. Kidd’s purpose in this novel is to display the ramifications of a broken home dynamic, in order to show how forgiveness to oneself and others is truly the first step to finding happiness.

Setting of Novel: The Secret Life of Bees took place in the 1960s in Sylvan, South Carolina

The idea of having a secret life is enough to intrigue almost anyone.  With a title like The Secret Life of Bees, the reader cannot help but wonder what the secret is, and how it plays into the story.  As children, we all read books that talked about an escape to a mystical place that allowed the characters to escape from reality for a while.  In many cases, the reader viewed this as an escape they also desired, but most times could not fully relate to the character’s experiences.  Nonetheless, the setting of the story was intriguing.  Sue Monk Kidd uses setting to influence her characters by setting The Secret Life of Bees in the south, having it take place in the 1960’s, and by creating characters that depend on the setting for their happiness.

I can relate to the strong friendship in The Secret Life of Bees because I personally have friends who are like the Boatwright sisters. These girls took Lily and Rosaleen under their wing and treated them like family. Only truly good people do things like that for others with nothing in return. Even with the racial separation they let Lily learn about her mother. My friends would do anything for me if I was in the same situation. This story teaches you about true friendship and how there might be some ups and down in life but all you need is friends to get through it.

Ray states “The truth is your mother ran off and left you.” (Monk Kidd 39). This quote structures how lily feels about her mother. As Lily doesn’t believe her dad it makes her feel like her mother was not a nice mom even though she wants to think that. This quote develops how lily will try to learn more about her mother and find her. Also I feel like this made lily get angrier with T. Ray. I feel like the author put this quote in the novel because it shows that Lily’s mother didn’t want T. Ray nor Lily and lily feels that her mother loves her. Also I think the author included this in the novel to show controversy between lily and her mother and lily and her father. This is because this puts her in a spot where she wants her mom but she doesn’t. Lily also gets to know more about her mother from the boatwrights and she is very upset with the situation that is going on. Just because T.Ray said this, this made Lily set off on a mission to find out the truth of her mother, to see if she is what lily expects or if she is like T.Ray. On top of this in Lilys father T.Ray abused her. So as you read the novel you will realize that she needs to find a new house to live

Apologizing and forgiving her Mother. “ She had rubbed her nose against mine and poured light on my face” ( Kidd 275). Lily thinks this as she looked at this picture of her in her mother. She finally realizes that she wasn't some item that her mom left, but something she truly did love. Therefore showing that Lily has taken this resentment of her mother and forgave her making this a pivotal moment for

Lily’s rebellion against her father illuminates the importance of the road of dependence to independence. As a bildungsroman, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, heavily focuses on the independence of an abused girl growing up in a time of feminine oppression and racial discrimination. For example, although Lily possesses a great ambition for literature, her father portrays contempt for it and thinks of college as “a waste of money for girls, even if they did, score the highest number a human being can get on their verbal aptitude test”(Kidd 15). Lily grudgingly respects her wish of her father to not read or bring up a conversation concerning education and tolerates an ill-bearing father. However, after Rosaleen and Lily become arrested,

In the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character Lily Owens supports John Steinbeck’s quote “Americans seem to live and breathe and function by paradox”. For example, the main character/narrator Lily goes from being a character who doesn't stand up for herself to a character who speaks her mind and stands up for herself. When the book starts Lily tells the audience about how at night she can hear bees swarming and buzzing around in her room so she goes to T-Ray her father but when her gets there they are no longer there and he yells at her and instead of standing up to him and saying that there were actually bees she stands down. "'You wake me again and I'll get out the Martha Whites, you hear me?' . . . . I shut my

The essence of the relationship between a mother and child is a mutual ascendency in regards to identity. Children are subject to an instinctive longing for a mother. It is the mother’s influence that guides them in their process of discovering all the realities the world posses and in that processing discerning their identity. Conversely when a woman becomes a mother the presence of her child causes her to evaluate and develop her identity under the pretense of motherhood. Paula Nicolson touches on the value of both these scenarios in her article “Motherhood and Women’s Lives” where she expresses how the mother child relationship gives the pretense for both parties to find their authentic identities (Nicolson). Sue Monk Kidd evaluates the

The Civil Right Act occurred in 1960 which allowed African-Americans more rights. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees many characters challenges and uncover the meaning of accepting taboo ideas. Set in 1964, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees suggests that accepting taboo actions does not necessarily compromises a person’s moral compass and can lead to an awareness and understanding of the world.