The Secret Life of Bees BY: Shaneda Wade
Something About The Author (Sue Monk Kidd) Born in Albany, Georgia She was a Writer, Novelist, and a Memoirist Her work focuses on the challenges and victories of women Kidd majored in nursing at Texas Christian University and graduated in 1970 with a B.S. degree.
More About The Author During her twenties she worked as a registered nurse and as a nursing instructor. She married her husband, Sandy Kidd, with whom she had two children.
Character Description Lily Owens- She is a 14 year old girl who lives on a peach farm with her father. She lacks a mother because she died when lily was 4, so lily is raised by a black housekeeper. T-ray- he is lily s father who treats the dog better than lily, he doesn t really know how to raise lily so he has a house keeper to do all the work for him. Rosaleen - Lily s nanny and first friend. Rosaleen is a black woman who originally worked as a peach picker in the fields belonging to Lily s father. Six months after Lily s mother died, T. Ray took Rosaleen out of the fields and assigned her to taking care of Lily.
Character Description (continued) August Boatwright - A middle-aged black woman who welcomes Lily into her home after she had ran away from her home.
Resource Page Media Center: The mermaid chair ; By; Sue Monk Kidd; 2005; F KID the secret life of bees ; By Sue Monk Kidd; 2002; F KID Related Topics: Living with Death ; Osborn Segerberg; 128 SEG; 1976 Death ; Lydia Anderson; 155.9 AND; 1980
Summery Lily Owens has no mother and a father who abuses her. Lily has a vague memory of her mother on the day her mother died when Lily was four. Her father leads her to believe that she was the one who accidentally shot her mom, filling her with guilt. Her father, T. Ray, often mistreats her, such as making her kneel on grits while he whips her as punishment. On her way to register to vote, Rosaleen, Lily's nanny and stand-in mother, steals two church fans and pours snuff juice on the shoes of the three most racist men in town after being verbally assaulted with racial comments. Rosaleen is then arrested for assault, disturbing the peace, and theft. After being beaten with a flashlight by one of the racists and being beaten again in her cell, Rosaleen is sent to the hospital.
Summery continued That very same day, T. Ray had told Lily that her mother never loved her and in fact left her behind when she was little. Hurt and badly shaken up about this, Lily runs away from home and breaks Rosaleen out of jail. Together, Lily and Rosaleen hitchhike to Tiburon, South Carolina on the hunch that Lily's mother, who had written the city name on the back of a photo of the Black Mary, had once lived there. After arriving in Tiburon, Lily spots the Black Mary on a jar of honey in a store. Lily goes to the beekeeper's pink house and is taken in by the three black Boatwright sisters: May, June, and August.
Summary continued They provides Rosaleen and Lily with housing, and Lily becomes an apprentice beekeeper under the guidance of August, the head of the household. The whole time at the Boatwright house, Lily faces inner conflict with wanting to know about her mother, but being too afraid to ask any of the Boatwright sisters. Zachary Taylor, a high school student who works at the apiary to pay for college and become a lawyer, who courts Lily while working alongside her assisting August, is arrested after refusing to tell which one of his friends threw a bottle at a racist white man.
Summery continued When May, one of the sisters who suffers from depression ever since her twin sister died years ago, hears of this, she commits suicide by drowning herself in the river. Lily finally gets her answers about Deborah (her mother) from August. But the truth is overwhelming for her. What her father said about her mother was true, but August points out that Lily's mother did try to fix her mistake...but it cost her her life. She was coming back for Lily after leaving her and then the accident with the gun happened. It takes Lily a while before she forgives her mother.
End of Summery Shortly after, T. Ray finds Lily at the Boatwright household, and tries to take her back with him. He is caught up in an angry rage as he thinks his daughter is really his dead wife who he loved very much even though she ran away from him. Lily snaps him out of it by calling him Daddy, which she never had before. After hearing this and coming to his senses, T. Ray lets her stay with the beekeeping sisters after realizing that it would be best for Lily, but more importantly best for him too. Lily is then put into school and makes a new friend. Lily has finally found the mothers inside of her and they are "the moons shining over her".
Plot Development Lily Owens is having a bad life living with her father that she hates. Thinking about the death of her mother, she is determined to figure out what really happen the day she died.
Conflict Man vs. society Lily, Rosaleen, August Boatwright, Zachary Taylor, T.ray (characters) Lily lives unhappily with her emotionally detached father, who claims that Lily, as a small child, accidentally killed her mother. When her black maid, and only friend Rosaleen gets arrested for confronting three racists, Lily decides to break Rosaleen out of jail. Together they run away to a place Lily suspects her mother once spent time.
Rising Action Once the Boatwright sisters take her in, Lily must come to terms with the reality of who her mother actually was. Meanwhile, Lily struggles to understand the importance of the surrogate mothers she has found in Tiburon.
Climax Lily s sweetheart, Zach, an African American, gets arrested for being with a group of friends when someone throws a glass bottle at a white man. Immediately after, May Boatwright commits suicide when she hears the news about Zach, and the other two Boatwright sisters (August and June) begin to mourn their loss. Lily finally confesses to August the truth about her past, admitting that she killed her mother and broke Rosaleen out of jail.
Resolution Lily confronts her father, T. Ray, and August convinces him that Lily should stay in Tiburon. 5/24/11
Falling Action Lily finally confesses to August the truth about her past, admitting that she killed her mother and broke Rosaleen out of jail. 5/24/11
RECOMMENDATION I would recommend everyone to read this book especially people who have lost a mother during childhood. This book is about love, forgiveness, and learning. Lily is the average girl that most teenage girls can be compared to. The only thing that might be different is when she get punished in a harsh way by her father who she thinks doesn t love her. She ends up truly finding her someone to love that loves her back. 5/24/11
Works cited "Goodreads." Web. 25 May 2011. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4711.sue_ Monk_Kidd>. "Googleimages." Web. 25 May 2011. <charlestoncitypaper.com>. Kidd, Sue M. The secret life of bees. New York, NY: Penguin Putman Inc, 202. Print 5/24/11