Sue Monk Kidd

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Pages: 12

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Throughout someone's adolescence, they will go through a series of changes, both mentally and physically. Having a mentor to help you through this stage of life is crucial to entering adulthood. Being absent in a person’s life during this time could affect the way they develop emotionally. In Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, she uses the moon to symbolize the guidance and growth that Lily receives, as she embarks on her journey to discover more about her mother. To begin, the moon shows Lily’s transition into adolescence when she sees the Boatwright’s sister statue of the Black Mary for the first time. Lily Owens lives in Sylvan, South Carolina with her father, T. Ray, and her nanny, Rosaleen. She is about to turn fourteen and wants …show more content…
In the short time Lily had stayed with August and her sisters, August started to become a source of guidance through Lily’s journey, whether she knew it or not. Moreover, Sue Monk Kidd uses the moon to represent guidance in Lily’s life, whether it is the actual moon giving her light in dark times, or being an actual person in her life to assist her in times of hardship. Before Lily sets off for Tiburon, she is stuck at her house with T. Ray in Sylvan, surrounded by her grief and misery. The only thing that would give her some piece of mind was going to the orchard after dark, where she hid her mother's belongings. One night she knew when to start heading to the orchard when, “...the darkness had pulled the moon to the top of the sky,” (Kidd 22). In this quote, the moon serves as a guide for Lily. Going to the orchard is a time for Lily to be closer to her mother and around T. Ray, Lily’s mom, is a very taboo topic. So living in a household with some like T. Ray, she has to be sneaky about this ‘hobby’ of hers. Furthermore, the moon supplies guidance for Lily, when she escapes from her

Sue Monk Kidd: Chapter Analysis

Race, gender, and social class inequality is a prominent theme developed throughout the first chapter. Sue Monk Kidd uses tension and conflict among the characters to develop it. Lily and T-Ray are both white, and Rosaleen is the "mother" figure in the book, who is black. Under the recent passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Rosaleen is excited to know she can vote. She decides to take a trip into town to be one of those voters. She brings Lily with her. On the way there, they are stopped by…

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The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

reading your favorite book or watching your favorite movie, do you see that 1 character just grows as a character or becomes different through time because of what he has done as a character or what he has been through? “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd is about a girl named Lily that lived on a peach farm with her father named T-ray. Throughout Lily's life, she has been very abusive towards her. Lily and her housekeeper Rosaleen run away from home so they can find out what Lily's mother was like…

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The Invention Of Wings By Sue Monk Kidd: An Analysis

strong bond, despite their inequalities. A white/black friendship was extremely rare in the 1800's, which is why Sarah and Handful were taking a risk by becoming closer than slaves usually do with their owners. The novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd goes back and forth between Sarah and Handful's point of view, depicting their feelings and emotions throughout the novel. Sarah strives to someday free Handful from the depths of slavery, hence becoming a Quaker and teaching Handful how to read…

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Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

In “The Secret Life of Bees” Sue Monk Kidd illustrates the importance of a mother figure to the maturation of a child through Lily Owens experiences. The story takes place in the 1960’s however the story develops more in 1964 in South Carolina. The story starts off with the introduction of the main character, Lily Owens, and the fact of her missing her mother from a mysterious accident that had occurred when she was young. Lily is then forced to live with her father, T. Ray, and her “stand-in” mother…

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Analysis Of The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, is a story about a 14 year old girl, Lily. In attempts to escape from her abusive father and find a true, loving family, she is forced to take on many challenges. Even after finding the Boatwright sisters, she is continuously faced with challenges, some harder than others. Within each challenge, she learns many new things about herself as well as other people. Each challenge has a special connection with a motif, which helps the reader become better connected…

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Perseverance In The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees and it was written by Sue Monk Kidd. This is the story of a young girl trying to find the truth about her mother's death and along the way meeting some of the most influential people in her young life. Perseverance was a driving factor in Lily's story. For example, while on her mother's trail, Lily winds up at a store in Tiburon. She see’s the image of a familiar individual on a honey jar “Keep breathing, keep breathing” (Kidd 64) she thinks as she tries to keep herself controlled…

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SECRET LIFE OF BEES REVIEW Essay

CASE DESCRITPION The 2008 film, The Secret Life of Bees, is an adaptation of the book by Sue Monk Kidd. The movie and book were set in 1964, in South Carolina; it was “inspired by the author’s memories of the civil rights movement” (Contemporary Literary Criticism, 183). Identifying information about the character, The main character of this movie is Lily Owens, played by Dakota Fanning; she is a fourteen year old petite white girl with dirty blond hair that lives on a peach farm with her father…

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The Secret Life Of Bees Theme Essay

better other times for the worst. The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd is a novel about a girl named Lily who accidentally shot and killed her mother when she was only four. Lily's father is uncaring and rude towards Lily. Since both of her parents are absent from her life she spends most of her life looking for a mother. Lily was pleasantly surprised when she found this love from the Boatwright sisters. Sue Monk Kidd uses Lily, T-Ray and Zach to show how different people recover from…

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Maternal Women In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

Maternal Women In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily loses her mother, Deborah, at a very young age; however, she finds compensation for her mother’s absence through August and Rosaleen. Lily’s mother died in the most tragic way; she was only a toddler when she accidentally killed Deborah with a gun. Life is very arduous for Lily, considering she not only was the cause of her mother’s death, but she also had to live life without her mother present to guide her. Soon after…

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Rosaleen Daie's The Secret Life Of Bees

happened during this time. The existence of racism and unfairness still lingered towards African-Americans after the passed Civil Rights Act was passed, even in government officials like police officers who ere supposed to protect every U.S. citizen. Sue Monk Kidd best illustrates this problem by describing the excessive force toward African-Americans through law enforcement and the imperious manners of white citizens surrounding them. She creates pathos by incorporating the main characters into these problems…

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