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How Does The Secret Life Of Bees Plot Change

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The plot of The Secret Life of Bees never fully resolves since Lily never finds out the truth about her mother, but with a few changes, Lily’s mom will not die, the setting will be in the north and Lily’s mom’s death will be distinctly different which will cause the plot of the story to change. In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, there are many events that could have been changed to increase the interest level of the plot. Deborah was supposedly killed by her daughter, Lily. T. Ray, her husband, told Lily she was the one who killed Deborah. The day her mother was killed, Lily only remembers the noise of the gun once the trigger was pulled. The novel never directly states that Lily was the one who pulled the trigger, so Deborah …show more content…

Ray permanently because of his harsh ways. For example, T. Ray always reminds Lily that it was her fault and she was the one who killed her mother. Deborah’s death causes Lily to feel guilty and embark on a journey to find out more about her mother’s life. Lily continues to link together her mother’s background with stories from different characters. Lily loves to hear about her mother, but what really surprises her is the story right before her mother’s death. A possible change to this part of the story is if Deborah never went back home, she would not have been killed. For example, Lily would be searching for her mother rather than stories about her mother. Lily feels guilty about her mother which affects her overall mood throughout the story. If Lily knew her mother was still alive, she may be more positive towards finding her and more determined to. Sue Monk Kidd included these details because Lily would not have had the motivation to search for her mother if she had not shot her. Lily would still be curious about her mother, but since the only memory she has about her mother is awful, she wants to replace it with positive stories. Changing these details will improve the novel because the genre of the book would be more of a mystery. The reader would be continuing to wonder where Deborah is. The Boatwrights may even be able to help Lily find her mother. The story would have been completely different if Deborah never died because if she did not, she would have never met the Boatwrights who have become family to

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