Personal Narrative Fiction

A threatened bee will sting its aggressor, and it will subsequently die. The insect will remain peaceful and tame until it realizes it is in danger, then it will give its life to defend its home. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a 14-year-old named Lily learns about how her mother died. She ran away from home and with that, a whole wave of confusion and anger stemmed from learning the truth and facing her fears. From all this, we can learn how we should strive for acceptance.

The moment the found it, a talk of a feast came to light. They started a fire and hoped to smoke the bees out or to sleep. When they got up to the hive, they got it down, but when it came down, the bees got up. Stingers flying all over the place, with people swatting their arms like crazy, was all around. By the time that it was all said and done, with faces swollen, and massive welts all over their bodies, those of who could, feasted on the hive. Endless amounts of honey for everyone to share. At the end of the night, everyone was filled full and packed away whatever else could be saved. Despite the injuries, they managed to feed themselves and still had some left over for down the road. Survival is key. Bravery drives survival. And that’s just what they all gave so that they could

Her voice was like a whisper as the jail’s bars slowy closed upon her face. her vision was still dizzy, and she had not eat anything for hours. turning her head back, she tried to walk. clumsy steps were the best she could do, occasionally almost stumbling to reach the bed, or at least what seemed like a bed to her.

It softened her knees and dried her mouth so that it was a full minute before she could cry out or move,” we are able from just those words to see the image of a frightened woman who believes a snake has slithered on her. Many times in the story, imagery fills the gaps that the difficult to understand dialogue may leave.

When threatened on a beach in Nigeria, Sarah bravely cuts off her own finger to save the life of Little Bee, while her husband, Andrew, refuses, resulting in the tragic murder of Little Bee’s beloved sister, Nkiruka. Once Andrew and Sarah return home, they find their relationship dwindling and a surprise visit from Little Bee herself turns Andrew to depression and suicide, while Sarah remains strong for the sake of her son and herself. Sarah’s life is not easy after the beach incident, her missing finger a permanent reminder of the pain she has suffered. At Andrew’s funeral, Sarah says, “This is never going to end, is it, Little Bee?” (Cleave 44). She is basically saying that the cruelty that she has witnessed will never fade. She will always remember cutting off her finger and Nkiruka being sent to her imminent death. Andrew will still be dead because of the depression and guilt that he faced after what had happened. Sarah realizes that she can no longer pretend that the incident did not occur. Carrying on as usual helps Sarah pretend that the situation is better and she focuses her attention to her job and family life in order to forget. However, the reality sets in when Little Bee arrives, that there is

“Mom! I found a bunch of bees on the sidewalk. If they stay there any longer they will get hurt! What should we do?” Dylan asked his Mom.

 Skidding around another corner, she slipped and fell on her side. A shadow fell on her, and she gazed up just in time to see an outstretched claw an inch away from her nose, before flying along with the rest of the bird. and crash into a

A heart beat pounds in her ears. Yet it isn't her own. Strong arms are wrapped around her as she sobs. Muscles flex as they wrap tighter, trying to squeeze out her pain, but instead cause her to yelp. The grip loosens as she backs away slowly. Her head shakes from side to side. It can't be happening.

Along with Little Bee’s arrival, the option to let go of that memory on the beach is taken away from Sarah. Sarah’s life is stuck revolving around someone else. Despite her unawareness, Little Bee stands between Sarah and essentially, Sarah’s ability to “get on with her life.” Ultimately, Little Bee and Sarah’s relationship turns Sarah into a perpetual spiral of trying rectify her mistakes from the past. In this spiral of protecting Little Bee and defending her at all costs, Sarah has total uncertainty if and when things will ever be “right” again. The uncertainty of Cleave’s language reveals Sarah’s inability to sense when and where to start her life, or even if she is ready. Her unbalanced relationship with Little Bee continues, keeping her locked in her obligation. Disregarding her rigorous effort to fulfill the needs of Little Bee, Sarah is confident that she “still [hasn't] done enough to save” her, and has an incessant “need to do more...because..until [Little Bee] is happy and safe, then” Sarah believes she and

Hermes tried to calm her down by telling her that Apollo and Zeus were both pleased with the lyre that he had given to their brother. Artemis wouldn’t listen to him. She commanded the spiders to crawl up Hermes’ legs and arms and cover his body. Her army of spiders inched up Hermes’ body, into his ears, covering his eyes; he begged her to make it stop. Artemis had no mercy. She called to the bees, and in to time they were swarming around Hermes’ head.

However, she hears a faint buzzing in the distance. Worried for the BEE, she spots him failing to fly. Catching him as he’s about to crash, she looks down at him in concern.

Like a blanket, the fire wrapped around her hand as it finally touched the grate. Agony let out, escaping her mouth, echoing through the halls.

She stood behind him as he blindly looked through the dimly lit basement. He turned to the right, so close to where she was standing with his gun raised. When he turned around full she raised the paperweight and went to strike. Except the knot in her stomach stopped

In the second stanza, after she is accepted and conformed by one of the prestigious member of the community—“the secretary of bees” (7), she is relieved as “they [the bees] will not smell [her] fear, [her] fear, [her] fear” (10) which is concealed under “veils tacked to ancient hats” (5), presumably evoked by the sight of the oppressive community in the first stanza. As the poem flows on, the community increasingly becomes more fearsome to her. They become “knights in visors” with “square black head[s]” (13) whose “smiles and voices” (15) changed and frightened her. Thus, she continually appears as meek frightened poet vulnerable to negative emotions such as fear and depression—a fact especially clear in the line “is it blood clots the tendrils are dragging up that string?” (19). The “blood clots” dragged up by “the tendrils” seemingly represent the hurts and depression she buried in the very core of her heart. However, she still entertains hope that they will be overcome in the future, for she deems them as “scarlet flowers” which will one day be “edible” (20) as opposed to being threatening and

“Close the door. Close the door! CLOSE THE DOOR! I said CLOSE THE DOOR!” I heard this and assumed a bee was circling around her head. I was laughing until I heard the pain and agony in her voice. I shut the door afraid of what was happening. Then I saw…