Though just only starting to read The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, it is so far one of the most captivating books I have read in a while. It all starts out in the year 1964 in Lily’s bedroom. 14 year old Lily is waiting for the colony of bees that have begun to live in the walls of her room to return. Lily, who lives alone with her father and nanny, Rosaleen, then thinks about her father, T. Ray. T. Ray is an abusive father who she believes does not deserve the title of daddy, so she calls him T. Ray. He is the type of father who is strict, uses cruel punishments, and does not show love or compassion to his kids. Next Lily switches over to talking about her mother who dies when Lily is only four. Lily describes her mother as smelling of cinnamon and the one who took care of her with genuine love. Because Lily was so young when her mother dies, the only memory she has of her was on the day of her death. Lily’s mom was packing up, putting her belongings in a suitcase, when T. Ray walks in. They begin to yell at each other and Lily’s mom pulls out a gun. Next thing Lily remembers is seeing the gun on the ground and picking it up. When she is older, people tell her that she was the one who pulled the trigger, the one who killed her mom, but it was all an accident.
Though sad to say, this is all I have read in the book due to the long, stressful process of moving into our family’s new house.
When analyzing this novel I keep looking back at one comment Lily remembers her mom saying the day she dies. “The closet floor vibrated whenever someone climbed the stairs below it, which is how I knew T. Ray was coming. Over my head I heard my mother, pulling things from the hangers, the swish of clothes, wire cling together. Hurry, she said” (6.) Why was Lilly’s mother leaving and why did she want to get away before T. Ray came? All of this is a mystery to me, but I made some assumptions. Maybe T. Ray was abusive to Lilly’s mother; maybe she was trying to leave with Lily to a safer place away from T. Ray. There was also one more subject Lilly described that I couldn’t help but wonder about. When T. Ray is woken up by Lilly wanting him to see the swarm of bees, T. Ray says, “’You wake me up again, Lily, and I’ll get out the Martha Whites, you hear me?’ Martha Whites were a form of punishment only T. Ray could have dreamed up. I shut my mouth instantly” (5.) I know harsh punishments and beatings were considered normal back in older times, but when saying only T. Ray could have thought up something as the Martha Whites, I can’t help wondering if T. Ray was too cruel on his child, and if that tied into Lily’s mom trying to leave him. I also can’t help wondering what the Martha Whites punishments were!
Reading this book, I’m glad my group members and I chose it. The Secret Life of Bees is a suspenseful, unique novel that I can’t wait to read more about. Though just starting it, I highly recommend for you to pick up a copy of this novel and read it!
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I started to read "The Secret Life of Bees" not too long ago. From the bits and pieces of reviews I had heard, I was not overly excited about reading the book. While I had heard that it was ultimately a good book, many people had mixed feelings about the author, writing, plot, etc. However, when I started to read the novel I discovered that I would have to shape my own opinion on the novel. Right now, I have not read very much of the book, but with how interesting it is right now I doubt that it will be long before I have finished the novel. And I look forward to discussing this book with my group members and peers.
ReplyDeleteThe novel, as mentioned above, begins with Lily, the main character, waiting for the colony of bees. From what I have read so far, it seems as though the bees will be becoming a recurring symbol. Towards the beginning of the novel, Rosaleen mentions that "bees swarm before death". Later, the bees make a reappearance when Lily catches a bee and another appearance when Lily tries to let that same bee go. While I have not gotten far in the novel either, it seems as though the bee may be foreshadowing an event that is to come. Rosaleen says that they swarm before death, and as such I have a feeling that, soon in the novel, a character will die. Obviously, this is not much of a prediction seeing as in almost every novel in modern times a character dies. However, I have a feeling that this death will be an important part of the novel, should it occur.
From what I have read so far, I also think that this novel may be a good follow-up from "To Kill A Mockingbird". While it is set in a different time period than Harper Lee's novel, "The Secret Life of Bees" seems to be focusing on the Civil Right's movement of the 1960's. Also, towards the end of the first chapter some racism is shown. On the topic of racism and such things that we read about in "To Kill A Mockingbird", I think that this novel will keep the readers in the same mind-frame as before with racism, gender roles, and messages about society as a whole. Though I do have yet to continue reading, I heartily look forward to continuing the rest of this novel.
Considering the title, I assumed the book would most definitely be a story based on the life of... well, bees. However, just reading the first chapter, I knew I was in for a big surprise.
ReplyDeleteThe novel (as said above) is written in the persepective of a fourteen year old named Lily Owens. Her life has been shaped by the vague memories of her past mother. Ever since, she has been living under the same roof as her abusive father, T.Ray, and her "stand-in mother", Rosalee. The novel begins taking action when the harsh reality of discrimination starts kicking in. Roaslee deeply offends three big racists in town and is eventually beaten brutally and sent to jail. Lily uses this as an oppertunity to free Rosalee and herself from the clasp of T.Ray. Their journey begins once they find three sisters who soon fills in all the loss they both endured in their past.
Just reading the first couple chapters, I probably let out at LEAST ten laughs. The way the story is written is very unique. Sue Monk Kidd uses Lily's tone and voice as an advantage to really catch the readers. Here and there, Lily uses outstanding sarcasm and humor which brings out Lily's personality. For example, Lily explains how she really enjoyed literature, and wanted to be a writer one day. T.Ray criticizes Lily for her love for book. However, even so, Lily's tone showed the reader that she was not offended at all. "T.Ray said, 'Who do you think you are? Julius Shakespeare?' The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare's first name, and if you think I should have corrected him, you are ignorant about the art of survival. He also referred to me as Miss Brown-Nose-in-a-Book and occasionally as Miss Emily-Big-Head-Diction. He meant Dickinson, but again, there are things you let go by." (16)Lily's tone definitely sounds comical, which makes the story more enjoyable for anyone.
Another thing that I'd like to point out that I thought was very interesting was Lily's odd but fascinating senses. First off, Lily seemed to really enjoy to smell things. In chapter one, she states: "I used to go regularly into the Sylvan Mercantile and smell every perfume bottle they had, trying to identify it. Every time I showed up, the perfume lady acted srurpised, saying, 'My goodness, look who's here.' Like I hadn't just been there the week before and gone down the entire row of bottles. Shalimar, Chanel No. 5, White Shoulders." (6)In addition, Lily also mentions that she had a sixth sense. She states: "Some people have a sixth sense, and some are duds at it. I believe I must have it, because the moment I stepped into the house I felt a trembling along my skin, a traveling current that moved up my spine, down my arms, pusling out from my fingertips. I was practically radiating. The body knows things a long time before the mind catched up to them. I was wondering what my body knew that I didn't." (69) Lily's strange behaviors really gives the book more of a unique side.
Overall, I am really enjoying this book. I'm really glad that my group and I all agreed chosing this book. Considering the time setting (1960s), I'm assuming there will be a lot of lessons to be learned as well.
Something interesting that I felt was the feminine relationships in the story. One part of the novel that makes it unique is the unity of women. Lily became a young lady without the guidance of her mother for many years. She lived with her father, and he never even cared for her.. once. Her life was completely miserable. However, as a child, it was important to constantly recieve his/her parent's love, but as time passed, Lily found out that she shouldn't expect such love from anybody. However, even though Lily was "motherless", she still had Rosaleen, her African American "stand-in mother". Rosaleen was the one who provided a little taste of a mother's love and comfort. Throughout the book, Lily constantly looked up to her whenever she needed love and support. Soon enough, Lily also finds the Boatwright sisters, August, June, and May. As Lily lives with them, she realizes how important a women's comfort is to a child like her. She sees how powerful their comfort and encouragement is to her. Even though she lived through life as a motherless child, she feels like she still belongs in the world of womanhood. Despite her skin color (she's the only white), Lily begins to feel empowered as a woman.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I was going to say something extremely similar to the post above this. I believe that I am (maybe?) at the same or close to the same part as Grace. While at first I was over-interpreting the relationships of the novel, reading that post made me realize that it is simply a strong bond between these women living together. It is important for Lily, who was abused by her parent and might be the cause of her mother's death, to have a strong, motherly figure in her life and I feel as though she may have been deprived of this. While living with the Boatwright sisters, she realizes this depravity of her youth and begins to see beyond what she had learned as a child.
ReplyDeleteHowever, one thing that I couldn't help but notice throughout the novel was again about skin color and racism (as mentioned above). While indeed Lily is accepted among the community, one can't help but see racism and the thinking of people of this age showing through. Frequently, the reader is reminded that this is set in the 60's, during the Civil Right's movement, and that white people and black people are still not thought of as equal. I thought it was interesting how the author chose to add in their beliefs of the Black Mary, or as she is referred, "Our Lady of Chains". There are several ways to interpret this. I choose to see it as an empowerment to the black people of these hard times they are forced to live through. "The people called her Our Lady of Chains. They called her that not because she wore chains... They called her Our Lady of Chains because she broke them." (110) Our Lady of Chains was continually bound by the white people because they did not want the slaves to feel empowered, however she kept escaping her chains. While this is the obvious message, I feel as though this is another important feeling of empowerment of a different gender or racial group than was in power of the time. Overall, this is a theme which the author seems to touch quite often with the individuality and unity of women and with the individuality and unity of black people. I am excited to keep reading and see what the author will do next!
Many events that take place in The Secret Life of Bees occur because of racism. I strongly agree with Gracie. Because this novel takes place during the civil rights movement when blacks are first allowed to vote, blacks and whites are both on the edges of their seats with ech other. An example of this is when Lily first meets the black beekeeping sisters. (August, June, and May.) After getting to know them better, Lily thinks,
ReplyDelete“T. Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That’s what let me know I had some prejudice in me.” (78)
Lily is being racist without even realizing it herself until this point. The children of whites, being highly influenced by their parents, are falling into the judgment of skin color. Lily’s father and community all disagreed with the idea of blacks and whites as equals, so Lily naturally does too. Another example of blacks and whites not getting along is when June, a black women, does not accept Lily for who she is only because she is white. When discussing with August, her sister, whether to let Lily stay with them or not, June says, “But she’s white, August” and Lily, overhearing their conversation, thinks, “This was a great revelation-not that I was white but that it seemed like June might not want me here because of my skin color. I hadn’t known this was possible-to reject people for being white” (87.) There is also hostility that blacks are feeling during the 1960’s in the south. June feels that since some whites mistreat blacks, they all are evil. She does not what to forgive and bury the past; June feels that blacks are higher than whites due to the injustice they were put through. In the middle of The Secret Life of Bees, Lily romantically falls in love with a boy, and he does with her also. The only obstacle that separates them from being together is their skin color. Zach is black while Lily is white. When Lily and Zach are together, showing their feelings for each other, Zach, “‘Finally unwound my arms and said, “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”’ (135.) Just because of the pigment of their skin, Lily and Zach are tied down, unable to fully ever be together in public. They fell in love because of each other’s personality, but the world at this time is still unable to grasp the concept of equality and can't think of the other race without segregating them from themselves.
What also startled me in the book is the relationship between Lily and her father, T. Ray. In the beginning of the novel, Lily’s birthday is approaching closer and closer and Lily, being the kid that she is thinks, “As I fixed T. Ray’s plate, I considered how to bring up the delicate matter of my birthday, something T. Ray had never paid attention to in all the years of my life, but every year, like a dope, I got my hopes up thinking this year would be the one” (21.) My birthday is my favorite day of the whole year. It’s a big deal in my family and we celebrate it all day with my friends and family, rejoicing in another full year since my birth. I cannot fathom how Lily survived without a party, let alone a “Happy Birthday” from her father! And when she brings up the topic of her forgotten birthday, T. Ray completely ignores her and does not even answer to her request. If you were thinking “what a horrible father,” I completely agree with you. No wonder why Lily runs away from home even though she has nowhere to go. Anywhere but “home” would be better than dealing with the harshness and cruelty T. Ray puts poor Lily in. Hopefully, though, Lily's poor luck will take a turn for the better and this depressing, yet captivating, novel will end on a happier note than it begins with.
Just finishing The Secret Life of Bees, I want to focus more on the ending of the novel. After learning about her mother’s past and what really happened the night of her death, Lily starts to piece back her life. Lily’s life is finally starting to settle down, finally starting to have meaning, until one dreadful day the unthinkable (actually I kind of predicted this would happen sooner or later) happens. Lily hears a pounding knock on the door and when she opens it she is face to face with no other than T.Ray. With a hungry smile T. Ray lets himself in and forcibly tries to take her home.
ReplyDelete“‘Get up!” he yelled. “I’m taking you home.’ He had me by the arm in one swoop, lifting me up. Once on my feet, I wrenched away and ran for the door. He came after me and caught me by the hair. Twisting to face him, I saw he had the knife. He waved it in front of my face. ‘You’re going back with me!’ he yelled. ‘You never should have left me.’ It crossed my mind that he was no longer talking to me but to Deborah. Like his mind had snapped back ten years.” (295)
T. Ray has gone totally berserk. He is entirely convinced, out of blinded rage, that his daughter is his dead wife. He loved Lily’s mom, and having her leave him because she did not love him anymore broke him. After she left, T. Ray became bitter and hard, punishing Lily because she was his constant reminder about Deborah. At this point, I don’t believe he loves Lily; she is just a possession to him that he does not want to give away due to stubbornness. It is pride that is keeping him from leaving Lily alone, pride that is preventing him from stopping beating up his daughter. I think T. Ray isn’t being a good father and is only thinking of himself. I’m sure it wasn’t normal for fathers to treat their children like that back then in the mid 1900’s. T. Ray is the perfect example of the father we all wouldn’t like to have.
After T. Ray finally lets Lily stay with the beekeeper sisters, Lily finally starts to get the life that she deserves. Lily does not have to live in constant fear that the police or T. Ray finds her, the beekeeper sisters uncovering her true past, or about anything. Lily describes her new family as “the moons shining over me” (302.) Lily is loved and is finally where she should be, right in the bright pink, beekeeping house with August, June, and Roseleen. No longer will she have to suffer her father’s wrath; no longer will she have to be subjected to the harsh punishments inflicted on her. In my opinion, Lily completely deserves her “happy ending.” And her prince in shining armor as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Ok, so most of the book was depressing the way Lily had to undergo such misery at such a young age, but the ending of the book compensates for all of that. During the ending of the book I actually made an interesting discovery. In the sixth grade, my English teacher recommended this book for me and I read it. I didn’t remember reading this book till now, mostly because I read a lot of books back then; the names of all the books blur together in my cluttered mind. I only slightly remembered fragments of the book, so it was still suspenseful reading the ending. I highly recommend reading this book. It’s not the most challenging book out there, but for a light reading I would recommend picking it up and reading it. Though this book was not about the segregation between blacks and whites in the 1960’s, I learned a great deal more about this issue because Lily’s life tied into the hostile behavior between blacks and whites. In the end, Lily learns to be more accepting of everyone, black or white, and overcomes the racism whites have against blacks. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, is not your average book about a teenage girl growing out of her awkward adolescence stages into adulthood. Lily is a teenager that overcomes her abusive father, her mother’s death, and finds her way to her true home while maturing into a young adult.
After finishing the book, I can't help myself but to reflect on what the importance of the bees in the novel. Today, bees for us (well… at least for me) are harmful, mean, and annoying insects. After hearing endless stories of people getting stung by bees, we automatically develop a fear for them - terrified that one day WE might be the one telling the story of an unfortunate bee sting. So, why of all animals, did Kidd choose bees to be her focus on the story? Why not, let's say, The Secret Life of Puppies? These thoughts continuously ran through my head as I read the book. "Why not this...?" But, now that I have finished it, I begin to realize the significance of the Secret Life of Bees.
ReplyDeleteSince the beginning of the novel, bees have constantly been a part of Lily. Ever since the first appearance of the bees in her room to the time she’s become a bee keeper… bees have almost guided her every move through life. In the beginning of the novel when Lily first sees the bees she automatically summoned her father. However, almost magically, the bees disappear. This scene ultimately became a foreshadow. The bees signified for Lily to leave her father’s house for her own good. Then, when she leaves, she sees a bee jar with a Black Mary on the front. This also leads her to find the Boatwright sisters. Lastly, at the Boatwright house, she becomes a bee keeper, finally experiencing love, care, and maturity.
The story is written in the perspective of Lily, but I feel like Lily almost combines her life and the life of bees to make one complete story. The connection between them is so strong that it seems as though Lily probably wouldn’t have been able to survive without them.
Review
ReplyDeleteThe Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, was overall a good book. I did not have as strong of feelings for it as Robert did for his book, but I definitely wouldn’t say I despised The Secret Life of Bees like Ana and Hannah did with The Accidental Billionaires. I do have to say, though, that there wasn’t really a character in this novel that I was really attached to. I could sympathize with Lily’s hardships and her father-daughter relationship problems, but sometimes I questioned her actions and character’s personality. She never tried to ask her father why he treated her like an animal and just accepted it as normal. Sometimes she did the most awkward things like randomly waking up in the night to go and talk to a statue.
Overall, The Secret Life of Bees is a pretty decent light reading book. The plot was well thought out; most characters were well rounded and when reading the novel I never felt the need to reread out of confusion. I would say that this book is more depressing then suspenseful. Of course, I wanted to know if Lily really was the one who killed her mother, but the whole journey to finding out (which was most of the book) was a long, gloomy path of disappointments, one after another. Occasionally the main characters in the book had a stroke of luck and the situations in the book got lighter, but then most of the time another depressing situation occurred and things were back to its gloomy self.
I would give this book eight and a half out of ten in the category of light reading books. The author also had a solid writing style that did not detract from the plot of the novel. It was interesting reading a book about a young, white girl raised in a house where blacks were not considered equals during the time of segregation between blacks and whites. Especially since her best friend was her black caregiver, it was fascinating to see how black and whites both separated themselves from each other. I would highly recommend this book to, actually, anybody. It’s not a book that would detract from different groups of people because it’s not opinionated. It is just about a girl making her way into adulthood and, at the same time, meeting new people and find her place in the world. Though I am glad that after I post this final blog that this project will finally be done and I can start studying for the dreaded finals, I am also glad I picked this book to read with Grace and Gracie.
Now that I have finished the book, the part that stood out the most to me was the ending with T. Ray. Throughout the novel, T.Ray was seen as evil and cruel, and there wasn't even a shadow of a person inside of him. While he still did not redeem himself in the end, I think that Kidd did a good job of making the reader satisfied with the relationship between Lily and T. Ray while also giving the reader some room to interpret the underlying meaning of their relationship. Of course, due to some minor procrastination, I finished the book with the above blog posts in mind. One part of the end which I would like to note is the final conversation between T. Ray and Lily, regarding her mother's death:
ReplyDelete"The colors in the yard shifted with the clouds, turned from yellow to light green. He ran his hand across his face, stared into his lap, then moved his eyes back to me. When he spoke, the roughness was gone from his voice, 'I could tell you that I did it. That's what you wanna hear. I could tell you that she did it to herself, but both ways I'd be lying. It was you who did it, Lily. You didn't mean it, but it was you.' He looked at me a moment longer, then inched backwards out of the driveway, leaving me with the smell of truck oil... He drove away slowly, not tearing down the road like I expected." (299)
I believe that T. Ray truly loved Deborah, and was destroyed by her leaving. I'm not saying that it was okay for him to abuse his daughter, but I may say that I feel as though T. Ray's character is somewhat misunderstood. He just doesn't understand how to behave properly, and when Deborah left he became even more confused and in turn went to taking out these feelings on Lily. I think that he sees in her his dead wife, and somewhere inside of him loves her and doesn't want her to leave him as her mother did. I think that this is shown by how much calmer he got when leaving Lily; and how he seemed genuinely upset (in my opinion), but still willing to let her go. Because he really loved her.
Originally, this post was about twice the length, but then I realized that most of what I was writing seemed more "review-based" than "blog-based", and decided that I would save it for the review. But to finish up I'm just going to say that I loved the recurring themes and symbolism throughout the novel, such as with the bees. I felt that using the bees was a strong way to tie in everything in the novel, from Lily's new life to her memories of her past.
Review
ReplyDeleteThe Secret Life of Bees was an all right book. I found throughout the novel that I really wasn't a fan of Kidd's writing style. Over the summer, I read a lot of Charles Dickens, Bronte Sisters, Agatha Christie, and the like and found that I just haven't been able to enjoy more modern literature anymore. Maybe it's because I'm used to reading about "connexions" or whatnot, and this may make my review a bit biased.
Speaking of biased, I really didn't like how the book was told from first person. I can see how a novel like this would have to be told from first person, but I thought that this really narrowed the scope of many of the interesting themes that Kidd chose to cover in this novel. By having to story told from the perspective of a girl who, quite honestly, has some pretty strong beliefs throughout life, I feel that it detracts from the depth of the book. Also, I couldn't help but feel as though throughout the whole book, the writer was almost being manipulative and trying to press her ideas onto the reader and make it so that he/she agrees with her beliefs. I'm okay with writers giving an opinion, but I'm not as okay with writers pretty much telling you that their opinion is right and anything else is wrong.
Of course, she never really did directly say that her beliefs were right, but I couldn't help but get that message. Overall, I think that this detracted the most from the novel. I can stand writing styles that I don't like, but I can't really stand the manipulative side that Kidd put into her writing. I'm sure this wasn't her intention, but it just kind of negatively affected how I read the book. I would give this book a six out of ten. It's a good book, and I'd read it over the "Jedi Apprentice" novels I have been reading recently (long story), but I'd probably choose Bleak House over it. If you're looking for a quick book about the 60s, I wouldn't recommend The Secret Life of Bees; but then again I wouldn't recommend another book, either. If you're looking for a book about the themes discussed in the novel, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. It's a good book, and I'll give it points for effort. But frankly I doubt that in a month or two I will remember it at all.
Review:
ReplyDeleteThe Secret Life of Bees is a tale that really focuses on the part of life that not a lot of people have experienced. I feel like this book really brought me into the understanding of how some people live in this world. I overall enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys books with strong feminine bonds, storytelling, and of course bees.
The one thing that I would have to consider a con was the exaggeration in some parts of the novel. Only a few parts of the novel are there scenes were Lily over exaggerates her actions. It sometimes just leaves the reader hanging, thinking “Ummmm…?” But other than that, the novel was very well written.
I’d have to say the perspective in which the book was written in was fabulous. I loved hearing Lily’s voice ring throughout the novel. I could hear her tone as she spoke. The thing I most enjoyed was how she was so descriptive about the smallest things, like the bees. Her descriptions about certain things were so detailed that even me, the reader, could feel and taste and see what was going on. (No lies). However, the main pro that I’d have to say about this book was the symbols that were repeatedly represented throughout the novel. The bees. Before every chapter, Kidd quotes a sentence or two from certain texts that kind of weaves the reader into what is expected of the next chapter. The quotes usually talk about bees in general. Their lives, their daily routines, and so forth. I never really paid attention to them, but now I realize they did have an important part to the novel. Most importantly, the bees were Lily’s life guards. They guided her through various stages of her life. The way Kidd portrays bees in this novel was very fascinating.
I have to admit, this book really changed me about the way I feel for bees. I guess they have more meaning that I actually expected them to have other than being annoying little insects that sting anyone anywhere if you piss them off. However, even so, I feel like they represent the fact that even in the harshest times of a life, a small spark of hope can change anything. For me, I would definitely five this book 9.5 out of 10!
its gay
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