How Does Sue Monk Kidd Use Literary Techniques In The Secret Life Of Bees

In chapter one of Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees the epigraph is a metaphor for the chapter. The queen is represented by Lily's mother, Deborah. It was shown by the actions of T-ray and Lily after her departure that she was the unifying force of their family; without her they could no longer function. Without her they were no longer a family. With everything lily did, she was constantly reminded of her mother's death. As lily explained, "The oddest things caused me to miss her," and T-ray turned into a miserable excuse of a father. When Deborah died, the result was unmistakable queenlessness. Starting with T-Rays parenting, though it was never adequate, after the family tragedy he became bitter and cruel. He expresses this in

Everyone has a secret life that they keep hidden from the rest of the world. Lies are told on a daily basis in order to keep these lives stashed in the dark. In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the bees are the ones that have the most secret life of all. They each have their own specific role to play deep within the hive. It's obvious that the author had meant for some of her characters to portray the roles that these buzzing insects have to dutifully fulfill every duty. Lily and Zach are the field bees, August is a nurse bee, and the Lady of Chains is the Queen bee.

In The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd indirectly characterizes Lily as brave to demonstrate the narrator's growing maturity. After T-Ray rescues Lily from prison, they argue on the way back to their house. Once they return home, Lily slowly begins to rebel. “‘You don't scare me,’ I repeated, louder this time” (38). Two key points in the passage indirectly characterizes Lily. Firstlly, when Lily says, “You don’t scare me,” she daringly talks back to T-Ray. It clearly presents Lily as a rebellious child. Furthermore, Lily is portrayed as a more mature character because she was no longer scared of her father. Secondly, “I repeated, louder this time,” reveals that her boldness grew, and in that moment she fully committed to fight T-Ray. Through

In the passage from the award winning novel Secret Life of Bees, portrays Lily sneaking out of the house to be closer to her dead mother, which paints a picture of how much Lily wants to develop the bond with her late mother. To accomplish this task the author, Sue Monk Kidd, integrates numerous forms of figurative language such as symbolism , imagery, and comparisons using similes and metaphors to convey how much Lily desires to find a connection with her dead mother.

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees (2001), Sue Kidd creates a character, Terrence Ray Owens, that serves as the epitome of internal conflict. Kidd is able to show Terrence’s internal conflict through through a flashback from Lily’s friend August, and a series of violent actions inflicted on his daughter Lily. Kidd’s purpose in this novel is to display the ramifications of a broken home dynamic, in order to show how forgiveness to oneself and others is truly the first step to finding happiness.

Lying is a very important thing in the real world, it happens quite often and people realize that it’s not right. In Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, there are many lies that characters tell throughout the story and when the lies are told Lily is coming of age. The lies that are told contribute to the growth of the characters. Some of the lies that were told was when T.Ray lies to Lily about her mother. Another lie is when Lily lies to the Boatwright’s about her past, and what had happened to her mother and father. A lie that is mentioned throughout the book is when May lies to everyone and says that she is fine but she is not. Lastly

Eleanor Roosevelt once said “A woman is like a teabag, you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” Eleanor’s meaning behind these words was that a woman is much more than you expect her to be. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character, Lily, meets three African-American sisters who go through difficult situations throughout the book. After meeting the sisters, Lily begins to understand the importance of women in society. A woman figure in your life can help you with your problems. They tend to heal a broken person with their mother-like qualities. Some people don't see how significant women are to humankind.

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd has many important quotes that help embellish the story and give it a deeper meaning. One quote that stood out in the beginning of the story was, "People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life." (Kidd 2). This quote demonstrates the pain Lily feels and gives the reader an idea of the grief that will later be revealed in the book.

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.

The devastating tragedy of losing a person's mother at an early age can drastically affect that person's life. It can impact the way someone thinks, corresponds with others, and the way someone handles themselves emotionally. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens loses her mother at the early age of four. During Lily's journey she finds comfort and support in the women that she meets. Throughout the novel Lily goes through many changes because of the impact of the motherly figures of the Black Mary, Rosaleen, and the Calendar Sisters.

In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character, Lily Owens struggles with the notion that she killed her mother and has to live with her abusive, neglectful father, T-Ray. Throughout, Lily searches for information about her mother and why she left her. Unexpectedly, she stumbles upon new mother figures that play an important role in changing Lily to the person she is in later. The typical sequence of a hero’s journey includes a departure, initiation and trials, and reintegration into society. By the end, Lily Owens developes into a more mature, independent young women after experiencing a difficult childhood.

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

“More than 600,000 children are abused in the United States every year” (National Statistics on Child Abuse). All abuse is damaging to one’s mental state, but emotional abuse can have some of the worst long-term impacts. Emotional abuse leads to problems trusting others and self-worth issues, and this is seen in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. The protagonist, Lily, is abused by her father, T. Ray, and it causes her to struggle with the way she sees herself and others.

The female characters’ journey of empowerment has undergone different stages. In their quest for healing tools that can recover their maternal absence, the women have been looking for images that replace the mother’s face. In Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, the readers are exposed to a new type of identity search; that is to say Kidd’s female characters are depicted as the orphans who lack both paternal and maternal love. In the case of Lily, this lack starts in her early stage of life as she has been left almost alone with an abusive father who devotes all his care to his dog.

“Creating unique characters is something every fiction author has to focus on because it can make the difference in writing a book that resonates with the audience…” (“5 Tips for”). In this case, in Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, the author implements literary devices, such as, indirect characterization, symbolism, and allusions, in her writing. Moreover, the literary devices applied generate reader’s feelings toward the characters.