Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees

Words: 398
Pages: 2

Marissa Valenzuela
Ms.Stetz
Secret Life of Bees Essay
6 March 2016 Secret Life of Bees Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In Sue Monk Kidd’s “The Secret Life of Bees,” Lily’s mother dies on December 3,1954 when Lily was just four years old . In the narrator's point of view the bees are used to symbolize Lily’s mother just before and after her death. To begin with, the bees start to visit Lily right before her mother is killed. In the beginning of the story Kidd writes, “Bees swarm before death,”(Kidd2). The bees visit Lily because they sense death coming soon. They are a sign to her that a person she knows and loves will die in the near future. The bees are Lily's mother