The Secret Life Of Bees Symbolism Analysis

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Pages: 4
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Brittany Dent
Instructor Ross
English 1101
27 March 2017
Lily’s Secret Life
The Secret Life of Bees takes place in a rural southern town where Lily Owens, age 14, has grown up in Sylvan, South Carolina on her family’s peach farm. When talking about her hometown, she keeps it short and sweet: “…population 3100. Peach stands and Baptist churches, that sums it up” (Kidd 49). Sue Monk Kidd expresses the main character, Lily, as a lonely, sweet, kind hearted little girl who simply wants someone to acknowledge and appreciate her. Although she lives with her father, T. Ray, the only companion Lily has is their African American housekeeper, Rosaleen. I’m sure you’re wondering, “Where is her mother?” However, Lily accidentally shot her mother, Deborah, …show more content…
Symbolism is everywhere you turn in The Secret Life of Bees. The title says it all. The bee symbolizes Lily’s mother because throughout the story, they seem to pop up at random times but most importantly times when Lily is feeling alone and lost. Whether they are in her room or on the bee farm, Lily always seem to have a certain peace about her when she is around bees. Another emblem of symbolism is the “wailing wall” at the Boatwright’s house. The wall is symbolism for the troubles one faces and in the story’s case, it’s May’s wall that she doesn’t seem to have mentally. The wall is where she can lay all her burdens down, and block out things that she doesn’t want in her mind, sort of like an …show more content…
The biblical allusions happen throughout the story. They begin to happen more frequently once Lily arrives in Tiburon and begins to stay at the Boatwright sister’s house. The sisters are somewhat religiously structured people and you can tell that by their everyday lives and the kindness they express when they allow Lily and Rosaleen to stay with them. The biblical allusions happen when they mention “God,” “Moses,” and the “Plagues” as they allude directly to the Bible. An example of a political allusion is when they allude to the “Civil Rights Act” and the president at the time, Lyndon B.
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