نقد و بررسی داستان The Secret Life of Bees نوشته ی Sue Monk Kidd

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SETTING



The novel is set in South Carolina during the turbulent time frame of 1964. The civil rights movement is well underway. The author draws from many of her own memories of this time and the profound emotional and political turmoil associated with the civil rights movement and the racial tension of the period.




CHARACTER LIST



Major Characters




Lily Melissa Owens
Fourteen-year-old Lily Owens is the main character and protagonist of this novel. Lily has lived alone with her cruel father since her mother’s mysterious death ten years ago. Lily’s black housekeeper and mother-figure, Rosaleen, is unfairly jailed for defending herself against racist, white men. Lily helps her escape and brings Rosaleen on a journey, in which Lily tries to learn about her mother.
Minor Characters
Rosaleen
Rosaleen becomes the Owens family’s housekeeper after Lily’s mother dies. She is a large, African-American woman who is not certain of her age. Rosaleen becomes like a mother to Lily.
T. Ray Owens
T. Ray is Lily’s father, whom she calls “T. Ray.” He is the novel’s antagonist, or the force that provides an obstacle for the protagonist. T. Ray is a cruel man who pays little attention to Lily aside from yelling at her and disciplining her harshly. T. Ray makes Lily’s life miserable and will not tell her anything about her mother except that Lily was responsible for her death.
Deborah Owens
Deborah is Lily’s mother, who died when Lily was only four years old. Lily thinks about her mother everyday and must learn more about her in order to develop her own identity. When Lily moves in with the Boatwright sisters, she learns that he mother was not who Lily wanted her to be.
Mrs. Henry
Mrs. Henry is Lily’s teacher who tells her that she is very smart. Mrs. Henry tells Lily that she is too intelligent to go to beauty school and that she could write books if she wanted to.
August Boatwright
August is a beekeeper who lives in a bright pink house in Tiburon, SC. She is an African-American woman and sells Black Madonna Honey. She and her sisters, May and June, let Lily and Rosaleen stay with them.
May Boatwright
May is August’s very emotional sister. May’s twin sister, April, killed herself when she was fifteen years old. Since then, May is prone to emotional break-downs and spends a lot of time at her “wailing wall.” When May finds out that Zach is in jail, she kills herself.
June Boatwright
June is August’s other sister, who is not happy to have Lily staying in their house. June is rude to Lily until the day that Lily wets her with the sprinkler that she, May, August and Rosaleen are playing in. June finally accepts Lily, even though she is white.
Zach
Zach works for August. Zach is African American and Lily develops a crush on him, even though Zach tells her that nothing can happen between them. Zach goes to jail for a short time when he will not admit which of his friends was involved in an altercation with some white men. Eventually Zach is released and gives Lily her first kiss.

Neil
Neil loves June and asks her to marry him constantly. June always turns Neil down, until after May dies.
Queenie, Violet, Lunelle, Mabalee and Cressie
These women are all a part of the religious devotions to the Black Madonna. They are a constant presence in the Boatwright home and incorporate Lily into their community.
Otis and Sugar Girl
Otis and Sugar Girl also take part in the devotions to the Black Madonna. They are married to each other.
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CONFLICT



The conflict of a plot is the major problem experienced by the protagonist. In The Secret Life of Bees Lily must learn about her dead mother in order to understand her own life.



Protagonist
The protagonist of a story is the main character who traditionally undergoes some sort of change. He or she must usually overcome some opposing force. In this story, Lily must overcome the oppressive force of her father, T. Ray--a cruel man who blames Lily for her mother’s death. In order to discover who she is, Lily must leave T. Ray and learn more about her mother.



Antagonist



The antagonist of a story is the force that provides an obstacle for the protagonist. In this novel, T. Ray makes Lily believe she is worthless. He also makes Lily believe that she killed her mother.



Climax
The climax of a plot is the major turning point that allows the protagonist to resolve the conflict. The climax of The Secret Life of Bees is when Lily finally confronts T. Ray and learns that she shot her mother.

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Outcome
The outcome, resolution, or denouement occurs in the final chapters when Lily figures out who she is aside from a girl with a dead mother. She removes the toxic force of T. Ray from her life and decides to live permanently with August.



SHORT PLOT/CHAPTER SUMMARY (Synopsis)
Fourteen-year-old Lily Owens lives on a peach farm with her father, T. Ray. Lily’s mother, Deborah, died in a mysterious accident involving a gun when Lily was four-years old. Since then, Lily thinks about her mother constantly and wishes she were there to take her away from T. Ray, who is cruel and distant.
Rosaleen, an African-American woman, is the family’s housekeeper and a mother-figure for Lily. One day Rosaleen and Lily go to town so Rosaleen can register to vote. In town a group of white men taunt Rosaleen and she spills the contents of her snuff jar on their feet. The men beat Rosaleen until the police come and take Rosaleen to jail. At the jail, the men beat her some more. T. Ray comes to the jail to take Lily home. Back on the farm, Lily and T. Ray get into an argument, in which he tells Lily that Deborah was going to leave her when she died. Lily gets so angry that she runs away. Lily frees Rosaleen from the hospital, where she was sent after her second beating. Rosaleen and Lily go to Tiburon, South Carolina because Deborah had a picture of a black Madonna on the back of which she wrote “Tiburon, SC.” Lily figures this town must have been important to Deborah. In a store, Lily sees jars of honey with pictures of the same black Madonna as their labels. Lily asks the storekeeper where the honey comes from. He tells her that a woman named August Boatwright makes the honey and that she lives in a bright pink house.
Lily and Rosaleen find the pink house and knock on the door. Inside, they find three African-American sisters--August, June and May. Lily tells them that she is passing through town on the way to her aunt’s house. She tells the sisters that she is an orphan. August tells Lily and Rosaleen that they are welcome to stay for now. She says that Lily can help her with the honey business and Rosaleen can help May with the house work. May is very emotional and often cries so hard that she must go to her wailing wall in the backyard--a wall in which she places prayers for all the things that sadden her. June is not happy about having Lily stay with them because she is white. When Lily overhears June saying that she dislikes her because of her skin color, Lily realizes how absurd racism is.
The sisters practice a religion they have created themselves and share with a group called The Daughters of Mary. The women pray to a statue of a black Mary that they call Our Lady of Chains.
During her time in the pink house, Lily comes to practice this religion with the women. She loves these women and life in the pink house. Lily comes to feel accepted by the black women. Even June befriends her, eventually. She falls in love with August’s helper, Zach. Zach is an African-American boy, which complicates Lily’s feelings for him. One day, one of Zach’s friends throws a bottle at a white man. Because none of the boys will admit who threw the bottle, they all go to jail. The women try to keep Zach’s imprisonment a secret from May, for whom it would be too much to handle. However, May finds out from a phone call that Zach is in jail and is unable to deal with it. May commits suicide by drowning herself in the river.
May’s friends and family are devastated by her death. Some good things come out of it, however. June decides to marry Neil--a man she has dated for years but always refused to marry because she was hurt once by someone else. Eventually life returns to normal in the pink house and Lily thinks about how she will have to tell August the truth soon. In the meantime, Lily and Zach kiss and he promises they will be together one day. Eventually Lily tells August who she really is. It turns out that August already knew, because she knew Lily’s mother. August worked for Deborah’s family when Deborah was a child. Years later, after Lily was born, Deborah left T. Ray and came to stay with August. August said Deborah was going back to get Lily and then she was going to divorce T. Ray. When she went home, she died. Lily is outraged and saddened to learn that Deborah left her with T. Ray. August tries to explain that Deborah was depressed and not thinking clearly, but Lily cannot forgive her.
One day, Lily is home alone and T. Ray comes to the door. He found out where she was because she called him collect once. T. Ray went to the place she called from and a woman told him where she was. T. Ray demands that Lily come home with him. When T. Ray notices the pin Lily is wearing--a pin he gave Deborah--Lily explains that Deborah came to the pink house when she left him. T. Ray goes into a rage and beats Lily, all the while calling her Deborah. August and Rosaleen return to the house. August tells T. Ray that Lily can stay with her and that she loves Lily. T. Ray agrees and leaves. Lily chases his car and asks him if she was responsible for her mother’s death. T. Ray says it was an accident, but Lily killed her.
Lily finally learns to forgive her mother and herself. She is happy living with August. She goes to school with Zach. Lily learns the importance of female communities and that women can be mothers to each other.

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THEMES



Major Theme



Secret Lives

The major theme of this novel is expressed in its title, which comes from a statement made by August: “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about” (148). Throughout the novel, the reader learns how most characters are not what they seem on the surface. People’s lives are usually much more complex and complicated than they appear.


Minor Themes

Refer to the Overall Analysis Section for additional information on the Minor Themes


Fortunate Coincidences and Signs Mothers Race Death Gives Way to Life

MOOD

Serious/ Inspirational. The mood of this novel is frequently serious because it treats a series of somber issues: verbal and physical abuse, racial discrimination and violence, and death. However, Kidd punctuates these grave moments with humor and the desire of the characters to overcome. Because the characters are able to meet the many challenges they face and -for the most part--each has a positive outcome, the overall feeling of this novel is inspirational. This plot demonstrates how community, love, faith, and friendship help the human spirit to survive anything.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY

Sue Monk Kidd was born and raised in Sylvester, Georgia, on a plot of land settled by her great-grandparents some 200 years ago. While Sue had always wanted to be a writer, she decided to become a nurse because of the cultural climate of the 1960s, as well as her own fears of failure. Sue went to Texas Christian University (TCU), where she received a Nursing degree in 1970. She worked as a registered nurse throughout her twenties. She married Sanford (Sandy) Kidd and had two children, Bob and Ann.
At thirty-years old Sue became a freelance writer, working on non-fiction pieces about her life experiences. Sue began writing about Christian spirituality and then, in her early forties, feminist theology.
Sue’s early desire to write fiction returned and she enrolled in a graduate writing seminar and visited writers’ conferences. In 1997 she began her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees followed by her second novel, The Mermaid Chair.
The Secret Life of Bees has sold over four million copies to date and spent over two years on the New York Times bestsellers list.
Sue has stated that she drew inspiration from the honeybees that lived in a wall of her house in Georgia while she was growing up. She remembers the humming sound of the bees and the honey that seeped out of the wall. She said that she imagined a young girl lying in bed with bees sifting through the cracks in the wall and the thoughts that may have surrounded her life. That personal experience provided a background for the novel. Though she doesn't believe that any of the characters are drawn specifically from her own life, she did draw from details and recollections of her adolescence for the actions and mannerisms of many of the characters.
Sue Monk Kidd lives near Charleston, South Carolina today and continues to write.
Her published works include:

Non-Fiction

God's Joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved (1987)
All Things Are Possible (1988)
Love's Hidden Blessings: God Can Touch Your Life When You Least Expect It (1990)
When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions (1990)
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (2002)
A Luminous Presence: One Woman's Awakening to the Inner Life (2005)

Fiction

The Secret Life of Bees (2002)
The Mermaid Chair (2005)

LITERARY / HISTORICAL INFORMATION

This novel is set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement in the particularly tumultuous summer of 1964. The movement for civil rights, though always important, came to a political head during this period in American history. At this time, the rights of minorities were called into question with regard to "equal rights" under the U.S. Constitution.
Many groups of minorities in America, especially blacks (African-Americans) believed that they had been denied the basic human rights provided for other American citizens (namely white people) under the U.S. Constitution through the terrible bonds of slavery and racism that existed for so many years during and after the formation of this country. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, many civil rights activists were concerned that the important work he had initiated for American minorities would not be continued in the federal government and would be lost with the end of his presidency. However, they were pleasantly surprised when upon his first address to Congress on November 27, 1963, the new President, Lyndon Baines Johnson urged for the passage of a civil rights bill that would continue the progress made under President Kennedy.
The original purpose of the congressional bill, which ultimately became law as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was to provide protection for black men from discrimination based upon race. However at the last minute, in an attempt to kill the bill, it was expanded to protect women from discrimination as well. Under this act, the infamous "Jim Crow" laws were legally abolished and racial segregation was declared abolished.
The Civil Rights Act passed and became law, however, as illustrated in the story, many whites were angered by the Civil Rights Act and continued to treat African Americans cruelly and racial tensions continued, despite the action and progress addressed in the new laws. Racism still persists as a bold part of American society, despite political movements and social change.



GENRE


Fiction

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CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Lily Owens

Lily Owens is the only true main character of this novel, in the sense that she is the only character that is developed significantly. Other characters are important, such as T. Ray, Rosaleen and August. However, these other characters only sustain their value in the way they relate to Lily. Furthermore, because the novel is told in the first person, we do not get a very clear picture of these characters apart from what they tell Lily or how she perceives them. This novel is Lily’s voyage and consists, largely, of how she feels and what she is thinking.
Lily is the main character and protagonist of the novel. She must work to overcome the plot’s major conflict, which is that she must learn about her dead mother in order to understand her own life. Lily finally overcomes this conflict when she confronts the novel’s antagonist, T. Ray. The climax occurs when Lily refuses to submit to him--thus ridding herself of his verbal and physical abuse and allowing herself the freedom to discover who she is. In this scene she also finally confronts the truth about her mother--Lily learns that she is truly responsible for killing her mother.
In learning the truth about her mother and freeing herself from T. Ray, Lily can finally begin the process of forgiving. In forgiving, Lily is set free to start fresh. Lily gives herself the opportunity for a bright future and finally learns what it is like to be part of a loving family. Lily, who has been lost without a queen, finds a series of new queens in the new women in her life as well as in Mary.

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PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

Exposition

The exposition is the section of a novel in which the main characters and main conflict are introduced. Any relevant background information is also given in this section. The exposition of this novel occurs in Chapter One where we learn that the protagonist, Lily, leads a miserable life with her father T. Ray. Her life became miserable when her mother, Deborah, mysteriously died. Lily blames herself for Deborah’s death, although she is not sure if she can believe T. Ray’s accusation that it was her fault.

Rising Action

Rising action is the action that will lead to the climax (or the major turning point in the plot). In this novel the rising action is everything that happens before Lily confronts T. Ray.

Climax

The climax of a plot is the major turning point that allows the protagonist to resolve the conflict. The climax of The Secret Life of Bees occurs in Chapter Fourteen when Lily confronts T. Ray in the pink house. Throughout the novel, Lily has been struggling with who she is in relation to her mother’s death. In other words, Lily is having difficulty deciding what kind of woman she wants to be without the direction of a mother. As suggested in various epigraphs, Lily is wandering senselessly like a bee without a queen. When Lily confronts T. Ray she makes the decision not to live with him any longer. This decision is different than the one she made when she ran away because it is a permanent decision. It is also an informed decision. Lily realizes that T. Ray is a destructive person and that she cannot live subjected to his close-minded and cruel ways. This is an adult decision. In this scene Lily also learns, definitively, that she was responsible for her mother’s death. That Lily chases T. Ray in order to find out this information suggests she is prepared for the possibility that she has killed her mother. This turning point, in which Lily refuses to submit to T. Ray and prepares to reconcile the guilt she has for killing her mother, allows Lily to resolve her past and begin anew.

Outcome

The outcome, resolution, or denouement of the novel occurs in the final chapter where Lily replaces her “queen” and starts over. Throughout the novel, Lily has been in search of herself as much as she has been in search of her mother. Learning the truth about her mother--both that Deborah left her and that she was responsible for Deborah’s death-- allows Lily to begin the process of forgiving them both. In forgiving, Lily is set free to start fresh. Because she freed herself from T. Ray, Lily gives herself the opportunity for a bright future and finally learns what it is like to be part of a loving family. Lily, who has been lost without a queen, finds a series of new queens in the new women in her life as well as in Mary.
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THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS

Secret Lives

The major theme of this novel is expressed in its title, which comes from a statement made by August: “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about” (148). Throughout the novel, the reader learns how most characters are not what they seem on the surface. People’s lives are usually much more complex and complicated than they appear.
Throughout the novel, Kidd builds on the hive and bees as a metaphor of life. Bees represent people working together in a society, which is represented by the hive. The beehive has been known in history to represent the soul, death, and rebirth. The hive is presided over by the queen, or mother-figure. In explaining that bees have secret lives that are not immediately perceptible, August speaks metaphorically of people. As the plot progresses, we learn that almost every character has an explanation for his or her actions that cannot be seen immediately.
We know that Lily is pretending to be someone that she is not in order to find out about her mother. We learn that May is so emotional because of her twin’s suicide. August tells Lily that T. Ray was not always the cruel man he is now. He was once tender and sweet and become embittered when Deborah died. Lily also finds out that her mother was not the perfect women she imagined. Throughout this story, Lily learns people, like the bees, are often motivated by forces that cannot be understood immediately.

Fortunate Coincidences and Signs

Throughout the novel, Lily seeks and finds signs and is propelled by a series of fortunate coincidences. Lily frequently asks for signs and often believes things that come to her are signs. Lily believes it was a sign that her room was infested with bees and now she is at the home of a beekeeper. Lily believes it was a fortunate coincidence that August’s mother met her father because she had a toothache. Lily believes it is a fortunate coincidence that she went to a store that sells August’s honey, which leads her to August, the person with whom her mother stayed when she left. Lily believes the picture August gives her of Deborah feeding Lily as a child is an answer to her request for a sign that she was loved.
Each of these “signs” and “fortunate coincidences” suggest that perhaps there is some order to what seems to be a chaotic existence. This notion is affirmed by the bee hive metaphor which weaves its way throughout the story. Although the activity in bee hives--which symbolize society--appears nonsensical and disorganized, we learn the bees lead a highly organized and orderly existence.

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Mothers

Lily is driven by her need to know about her mother so that she may learn more about herself. In seeking her mother, Lily finds mother substitutes. Rosaleen, August, and the other women step into Lily’s life and provide the mothering that she needs so desperately.
The Black Madonna/ Virgin Mary demonstrate each woman’s need to be mothered. The women’s devotion to the Blessed Mother shows the power and importance of a mother in the life of a woman.

Race

This novel treats the contentious issue of race in the 1960’s south as well as in the everyday relations between individuals. The plot demonstrates two encounters between whites and blacks in which the black person is treated unjustly. Rosaleen is sent to jail for defending herself and Zach goes to jail for not admitting which of his friends broke a bottle on a white man’s nose.
On another level, Lily must personally navigate the delicacy of the racial difference between herself and the African-Americans she comes to love in Tiburon. White people criticize Lily for living with the black women, who treat her better than anyone else ever has. Lily develops romantic feelings for Zach, who tells her that he could get killed for even looking at a white girl. Finally, for the first time Lily experiences what it is like to be judged based solely on her skin color when June complains to August that she does not want Lily in the house because she is white.

Death Gives Way to Life

Throughout the novel there is the theme of death giving way to life. The resultant life is sometimes good, but it is also sometimes bad. In the very beginning of the novel Lily tells us “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.” Here, we see how Lily’s life has been profoundly affected by her mother’s death. This statement suggests that living with someone else’s death can be more painful than dying. In this case, Deborah’s death has given way to Lily’s miserable life.
However, death also can be a positive force in the lives of the living that remain. Following May’s death August tells Lily: “Putting black cloths on the hives is for us. I do it to remind us that life gives way into death, and then death turns around and gives way into life.”
Death as giving way to life is seen twice in this novel as a positive force. The first instance is the way that May’s death propels June to marry Neil, thus establishing their new life together. The second time is when Lily finally reconciles with her mother’s death and is set free to truly begin her own life.
Life also gives way to death. Literally--everyone who is born must die. But on a symbolic level, life can kill too. May kills herself because life is too much for her to bear. When Deborah learns she is pregnant with Lily she decides to marry
T.Ray. Lily’s life leads to Deborah’s symbolic death on the peach farm, where she has a nervous break down because she cannot bear to live there. This new life (Lily) also leads to Deborah’s literal death when Lily accidentally drops the gun and Deborah is hit with a bullet.

POINT OF VIEW

First-person, limited. The narrator of this story is Lily. We have access to her thoughts, but not to the thoughts of the other characters.
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IMPORTANT QUOTES - QUOTATIONS

Edition: Penguin, 2003

1. “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.” Lily, p.2

Lily says this in the beginning of the novel during the exposition. This is an important quote because Lily’s life has been profoundly affected by her mother’s death. This statement suggests that living with someone else’s death can be more painful that dying.

2. “Please, Lily, you are insulting your fine intelligence. Do you have any idea how smart you are?” --Mrs. Henry,
p.16
Lily’s teacher says this to her when Lily mentions that she wants to be a hairdresser. This is an important quotation because it shows that Lily’s self-esteem is low from living with T. Ray and that believing in someone can be very powerful. After Mrs. Henry says this to Lily, Lily believes she can be a writer and practices whenever she can.

3. “The truth is your mother ran off and left you.”-T. Ray, p.39
T. Ray says this to Lily when they return from the jail. Lily is so outraged by this statement that she runs away, only to find out he was telling truth.

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4. “But she’s white, August.” -June, p.87
June says this to August about Lily. When Lily overhears June make this comment, she becomes angry and thinks how absurd it is to dislike someone for her skin color. This is an interesting moment in the novel because white people do not usually experience this type of discrimination.

5. “Well if you have a queen and a group of independent-minded bees that split off from the rest of the hive and look for another place to live, then you’ve got a swarm.” -August, p. 93
This statement explains how Lily feels, having broken away from her “hive.” She is moving senselessly, like bees in a swarm.
6. “Our mother said she was like Mary, with her heart on the outside of her chest.” -August, p. 97
August says this about May. This statement characterizes May’s emotional personality.
7. “Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you.” -Zach, p.135
Zach says this to Lily regarding any potential romantic relationship between them. This comment shows how unfair racism is. Young love is typically carefree and easy. However, as young teenagers, Lily and Zach have to think about the prejudices of the larger society.
8. “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about” -August, p.148
This quotation is significant because, developing the metaphor of society as hive and bee as human, it shows that people are typically much more complicated that then appear on the surface.
9. “Putting black cloths on the hives is for us. I do it to remind us that life gives way into death, and then death turns around and gives way into life.” -August, p.206 Death as giving way to life is seen twice in this novel. The first instance is the way that May’s death propels June to marry Neil, thus establishing their new life together. The second time is when Lily finally reconciles with her mother’s death and is set free to truly begin her own life.
10. “It was you who did it, Lily. You didn’t mean it, but it was you.” T. Ray, p. 299
This statement occurs during the novel’s climax. Lily chases T. Ray and asks him if she was responsible for Deborah’s death. That Lily chases T. Ray in order to find out this information suggests she is prepared for the possibility that she has killed her mother. In allowing herself to know this information, Lily begins to forgive herself for the past.
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SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS

The Bee Hive

Throughout the novel, Kidd builds on the hive and bees as a metaphor of life. Bees represent people working together in a society, which is represented by the hive. The hive is presided over by the queen, or mother-figure. Fortunately, Lily learns the queen bee can be replaced. August shows Lily how the bees become confused when the queen bee dies; however, if she replaces her with a new queen bee soon enough, they will be ok. Like the worker bees, Lily has been confused and saddened by the death of her mother. Through the intervention of the women in this novel--particularly Rosaleen and August--Lily is saved.

Our Lady of Chains Statue

The statue of Mary is symbolic on two levels. On one level, it is an obvious representation of The Blessed Mother, an important Catholic icon. In this sense, the women are not praying to the actual statue, but to whom it represents. On another lever, this statue (or Mary) represents all women’s need for a mother--or for guidance and strength. Our Lady of Chains is mother and queen to the women in the novel. Mary is frequently called “The Queen of Heaven” and as their “queen,” Mary provides a guiding force for the women. As August tells Lily, Mary is also a source of strength, which can be found within.

The Whale Pin

The whale pin that T. Ray gave to Deborah is symbolic of T. Ray’s complexity. T. Ray gave Deborah this pin when they were dating. August tells Lily that T. Ray treated Deborah like a princess. Lily is shocked to hear that T. Ray was not always a cruel man. Lily wears the pin when she confronts T. Ray. During this confrontation, T. Ray changes again. T. Ray momentarily experiences the rage and sadness he felt when Deborah left him. He acquiesces to Lily’s demand to stay with August. Finally, when Lily asks him the truth about her part in Deborah’s death, she notes that he softens a bit.

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The whale pin and the story it carries with it help develop the main theme of the novel, which is that people’s lives are usually much more complex and complicated than they appear.
Lily has always assumed T. Ray is a mean man by nature; she never considered why he might be that way. The whale pin illustrates that, at one time, he was kind and gentle. However, T. Ray’s heart was broken and he has been bitter ever since.

Lily’s New Room

Lily’s new bedroom symbolizes her new life. Lily says that she could not have dreamed of this room, which is filled with the loving touches of the women in her life. This room is filled with things that have belonged to women that Lily loves as well as new things. Lily also keeps the picture of her mother feeding her next to her bed. These items are symbolic of what Lily’s new life is comprised of. The items from the other women show how Lily is surrounded by love in her new female community. The new space and new things show that she has a fresh start filled with promise. The picture Deborah feeding her shows that Lily has chosen to remember her mother as loving her. It is important that Lily chooses to frame this picture and not the first picture she had of Deborah, onto which Lily projected the myths she created of her mother.
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IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY


Title: The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Date Published: 2002
Setting: South Carolina, 1964
Genre: Fiction
Tense: Past
Meaning of the Title: Using bees as a metaphor for humans, Kidd shows how most of the characters are not what they seem on the surface. Thus, people’s lives are usually much more complex and complicated than they appear.
Protagonist: Lily Owens
Antagonist: T. Ray Owens

Mood: Serious/Inspirational
Point of View: First-person, limited
Exposition: Chapter 1, where we learn that Lily’s mother died mysteriously when she was very young and that Lily lives a miserable existence with her cruel father, T. Ray.
Climax: When Lily confronts T. Ray at the Boatwright house
Outcome: Lily rids her life of the toxic T. Ray and lives permanently with August and Rosaleen.
Major Theme: Secret Lives
VOCABULARY
Ornery - mean-spirited
Imbecile - stupid
Carouse - to act boisterously
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