Creative Writing: Bees

The opening setting: What kind of place is this? Consider imagery. The novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is set just outside Sylvan, South Carolina during a time where there was a lot of discrimination against black people. The author also used imagery and sensory details to describe parts of Lily’s house.

In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a young girl named Lily struggles with growing up with only a harsh father and a housemaid while trying to find her own place in the world. At the age of four, Lily accidentally shoots her mother while trying to help her in a fight against Lily’s dad. Ever since that day, Lily has a difficult time trying to be a lady and trying to cope with her somewhat abusive father. One day, when Lily is fourteen, the housemaid Rosaleen is sent to jail for pouring dip spit on white men’s shoes but later gets assaulted by the men and is taken to the hospital where Lily goes to sneak her out. In order to help incorporate the story’s title into the story, the author has written epigraphs, that are about bees, for every chapter in the book. Chapter two’s epigraph says “ On leaving the old nest, the swarm normally flies only a few metres and settles. Scout bees look for a suitable place to start the new colony. Eventually, one location wins favor and the whole swarm takes to the air”(34). This epigraph parallels the story because of the similarities in how bees move on and look for somewhere to start their new lives and how Lily and Rosaleen try to start their new

Throughout the conversation, the nurse only used one open ended question which was “how are you dealing with that”. The rest of her questions were closed ended.

The passage from chapter fourteen conveys a significant and victorious tone, as Rosaleen earns her voter’s card. “For heaven’s sake, all I’m doing is getting my voters card” (Kidd 281). Rosaleen had great desire to acquire a voters card. The tone implies that it was a great achievement to acquire a voter’s card, and now it was finally time that Rosaleen got hers. “Getting it just right. Her big moment. Suddenly I wished I’d gone with them” (Kidd 282). The tone emphasizes the significance of Rosaleen getting her card. Lily shows signs of regret that she did not go to support Rosaleen who had always been there for her. The tone of this passage greatly affects how the reader percepts the importance of an African American receiving a voter’s card.

Every family has parents and maybe some siblings too, it is what makes the family a family. Some kids are adopted and some are not and some like Lily Owens in The Secret Life of Bees got to choose her family. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the theme that appears a lot is how much family means, even if it is chosen.

Secrets are kept and told in everyday life. In literature, a character’s goals can depend on keeping a secret and revealing the secret at the correct time. Sometimes it is best if the secret is never revealed; occasionally, the secret is even kept from the reader. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Owens keeps her identity, as well as her house maid, Rosaleen’s identity, a secret from August Boatwright and her sisters, Mary and June. This secret is strategically kept by Lily and Rosaleen. This secret affects the plot by preventing August from kicking Lily and Rosaleen out, as well as keeping suspense with wondering of if the secret will ever be revealed.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a book discussing the internal strife of a young white girl, in a very racist 1960’s south. The main character, Lily Owens, faces many problems she must overcome, including her personal dilemma of killing her own mother in an accident. Sue Monk Kidd accurately displays the irrationality of racism in the South during mid- 1960's not only by using beautiful language, but very thoroughly developed plot and character development. Kidd shows the irrationality of racism through the characters in her book, The Secret Life of Bees and shows that even during that time period, some unique people, were able to see beyond the heavy curtain of racism that separated people from each

The equality between the blacks and whites was a slow progression in American history. The majority of white people were prejudice against black people causing many disputes. In the novel Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Owens, who was a young white girl who was able to overcome the social constraints against black people, like the Boatwright sisters. Firstly, even though Lily is a different race than the sisters, they allow her to stay in their home and care for her. Secondly, Lily felt more comfortable with the Boatwright sisters than her father. Thirdly, Lily and the sisters develop a mutual respect for each other. As a result, the relationship between Lily and the Boatwright sisters shows that the colour of skin does

“I'm tired of carrying around the weight of the world. I'm just going to lay it down now. It's my time to die, and it's your time to live. Don't mess it up” (210). Feminist theory is an extension of feminism in which literary pieces are examined to understand the nature of gender inequality and social norms. Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees examined through a feminist lens demonstrates the patriarchy found in Owens household, shows the advantages of all female community, distinguish that mothers play a major factor in any young female’s life, and the variety of roles women take on in the community.

The Civil Right Act occurred in 1960 which allowed African-Americans more rights. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees many characters challenges and uncover the meaning of accepting taboo ideas. Set in 1964, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees suggests that accepting taboo actions does not necessarily compromises a person’s moral compass and can lead to an awareness and understanding of the world.

If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.

Bees belong to insects and they have more than twenty thousand species. Generally, there are two kinds of bee. The first one is solitary bees living alone and the latter is social bees living in group. They live anywhere in the world except, high mountains. They live to pollinate and produce honey and beeswax.

“Bees don’t think about what is impossible. That’s why we can fly when everyone says we shouldn’t be able to” (The Bee Movie, 2007). One of the things that confines creative thinking is the belief that a system or structure or current way of doing things creates boundaries that should not/ought not to be crossed. That is similar to a non-permeable border – nothing from one side crosses to the other side. This non-porous thinking affects ideas, values, change and behavior to an extent that one becomes stagnant and dormant almost to the point of apathy.

are more wasps, worldwide and locally, than there are bees. To add to the confu-

My grandmother, Beverly Stokes, is truly one of a kind. Lucky or unlucky, the rarest situation will happen to her. The Lockhart Family has no idea why she always ends up in these circumstances, but we get a huge laugh out of them. One of the funniest stories that has happened recently, is the bee story.