Monk Kidd characterizes T. Ray as a savage and a resentful widower. Before of his wife’s death, it seemed as if he was mistreating his wife, but the reason is unclear why he would be hurting her (7). For example, while his wife is packing he comes upstairs and shakes her to stop her from leaving him. T. Ray clearly shows the audience that he is not one to solve problems by simply talking, but rather by physical abuse. However as the story slowly progresses, it seems as if he loathes his daughter, Lily more than his wife. At the beginning, the reader learns how T. Ray refuses to buy his daughter new clothes, celebrate her birthday, and creates harsh punishments when she misbehaves. From the back story, it seems that T. Ray is more cruel …show more content…
Rosaleen is not afraid to stand up what she believes in. For instance, when she walks to town with Lily, she is not afraid to tell the three white men that she is going to go register to vote (31). Rosaleen seems to symbolize the civil rights movement occurring throughout the United States. Rosaleen truly believes all African Americans should have the same rights as the average white American. Rosaleen is also seen to be the only mother figure Lily has had after his mother’s death. Rosaleen is not afraid to stand up to T. Ray for Lily. In particular, Rosaleen bought Lily a purple biddy that insisted on pooping wherever it wanted in the living room; therefore, T. Ray became very upset, but Rosaleen stood up for Lily and told him at least it was not pooping all over the house (11). Rosaleen shows that she is not afraid of anyone, no matter how tough they look and act. Rosaleen is also the one character Lily falls back on when she feels sad and unloved. Rosaleen loves Lily and treats her as if she was her daughter, possibly because she feels pity for Lily -- due to the fact that Lily lost her mother and T. Ray never goes out of his way to make time for her. This reason could also be why Rosaleen goes to Tiburon with Lily instead of staying in
Rosaleen is going into town to sign her name to be able to vote. Lily begs to go with her into town and she decides to take her into town. They tell T-Ray it is to get her fitted for a bra. On the way to town, they run into trouble. The printed version of The Secret Life of Bees displays the first bout of trouble is from taking shelter and to rest in an all-white church. They are caught by the preacher and told to leave due to Rosaleen not being allowed inside the church. Later, Rosaleen is confronted about taking the paper fans from the church. The movie version displays Rosaleen taking her spit can and writing her name across the feet of a white man. This causes Rosaleen to be beaten by a group of men. The police take her to jail and then to the hospital due to her injuries. Lily conducts a plan to break Rosaleen from the hospital and they run away
Ray looked at Lily he realized that he couldn't stand her anymore because she looked too much like Deborah, which is when August offers him a way out of the uncomfortable situation. On page 298 she said "Mr. Owens, you would be doing Lily and the rest of us a favor by leaving her here...We love Lily, and we'll take care of her I promise you that. We'll start her in school here and keep her straight." August gives T. Ray a way out of taking care of his daughter and having to be reminded of Deborah and it also solves the major conflict of whether Lily and Rosaleen are going to have to back to Sylvan and stay with T. Ray or whether she will be able to stay with the Boatwrights. Adding on, just as T. Ray is about to leave Lily runs up to him, and asks him what really happened that day when her mother died and on page 299 it states "You didn't mean it, but it was you...Maybe he was telling me the truth, but you could never know a hundred percent with T. Ray." This also is a very important part of the novel because Lily realizes she lost her real mother but when she looks at the porch she has 8 other mothers. On page 302 it states "All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street." This quote is very important because it finally dawns on Lily that she isn't alone, and she doesn't just have one mother but eight of them. Furthermore, another conflict that is resolved, is about Lily breaking Rosaleen out of jail. On page 301 it states "He says they
Through use of indirect characterization, Lily’s words and actions reveal a pivotal part of her character: her clever intelligence. This first becomes evident after her African American friend, Rosaleen, spills a cup of her snuff spit on the shoes of a racist white man that was provoking her. The minister at her church is
T.Ray sits back into a chair leaning backwards and darting his eyes across the entire room. After another pause of silence, T.Ray stands and slaps his daughter across the face hard and attempts to drag her out of the room. As he slaps her he calls her Deborah under his breath. Lily is forced to scream “Daddy!” in order for him to stop and realize that it's his daughter.
Lily states how sometimes she gets really mad at Rosaleen, and sometimes almost hate her because she would embarrass her and Lily was so annoyed by the things that she was doing. When Rosaleen spit on the people's shoes, Lily was really annoyed and embarrassed how Rosaleen was being so manly. Another example, “Well, you are dumb! You have to be dumb to pour you snuff juice on those men's shoes like that. And then dumber not to say sorry, if you’re saying it will safe your life.
22) The present quote tells us that this was the first time that Lily genuinely thought that somebody loved her. This demonstrates a connection to my claim because she has a parent in her life, yet Rosaleen's actions help her understand there is an adult in her life who loves and cares for her. As expressed, Rosaleen has clearly shown in the story that she has cared for Lily for many many years, and taught her a lot of things during that time, which were important to her
"Courting a Monk" by, Katherine Min consists of four main characters and one is a woman named Gina. The story includes her mom, her dad Hi Joon and the man she ends up marrying named Micah. This short story about a Korean family has many ways that symbolism is introduced. Upon reading, I have found that desire, rebellion and love are the symbols that this story portrays. The author sticks to the story and does not shy away and take the story to another place. The reason I choose this story for my analysis is that I thought the author did a good job when expressing the characters in the story and the symbolism was caught from the very beginning. "Courting a Monk" is a short story that was filled with many forms of symbolism and the characterization of Gina and her family really stood out to me. The author did a fantastic job with the role each character was given, the portrayal and delivering symbolism throughout the reading.
In addition to the Black Mary, Rosaleen showers Lily with love and support. Rosaleen treats Lily like she is her own daughter. Rosaleen accepts the way Lily is and has faith in her. "'Here you go. Happy Birthday" (28). Rosaleen cares about Lily and knows when something is important to her, like her Birthday. Lily never gets anything from T-Ray on her Birthday, but Rosaleen cares so much about her that she still gets Lily something. Rosaleen can tell when Lily is in pain or is sad like most mothers can. "'Well why don't we sit down on the side of the road awhile?'" (28). Rosaleen acknowledges the fact that Lily feels upset, and is comfortable expressing the need to rest and relax. Since Lily has known Rosaleen a long time she is comfortable expressing herself around Rosaleen and knows that Rosaleen will listen to her problems and insecurities. "'I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason'" (11). Rosaleen and Lily have a connection that most mothers and daughters have. They care
Lily starts off stuck living in an unloving, abusive household and decides to free herself from the negative atmosphere that she had been living in her whole life. Lily is perpetually abused by her father. He forces her to kneel on Martha White's, gets exasperated every time she speaks, and yells at her for no reason. Lily is not the only one noticing the terrible treatment, Rosaleen does too. Once after Lily had to kneel on the Martha White's Rosaleen said to her, “Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you” (Kidd 25). Noticing the unloving treatment Lily gets, Rosaleen knew that their household was demoralizing place for Lily to be in, which is why she didn’t question when Lily when she later runs away. Lily one day realizes she needs to do something about her horrible life at home. While sitting in her room she hears a voice in her
She makes up detailed, yet vague lies and is able to get away with practically anything. This does not help her because she usually thinks of her lies on the fly. If she doesn't think of it enough or in depth, it can easily backfire in her face and get caught. Rosaleen does not correct Lily's lies because if she does, she does not want to go back to the jail and doesn't want to risk being caught.
Lily shows her non-racist side in the very beginning of the book, after Rosaleen has been put in jail for spitting on a very racist white man’s shoe. She willingly sneaks into jail and attempts to free Rosaleen, but gets sent home with the racist and mean father, T. Ray. She once again tries to free Rosaleen, and this time sneaks into a hospital to free her. Lily is successful this time, and runs away with Rosaleen.
Rosaleen is very caring and will do anything to protect Lily. A cold hearted woman standing up for what she believes in, and doesn’t let people take advantage of her. “You act like you’re my keeper. Like I’m some dumb nigger you gonna save.” Rosaleen is being as stubborn as she is, she doesn’t let Lily drag her around or tell her what to do.
In view of that, relationships between characters in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ are clearly similar and different to ‘The Secret of Bees’. Lily explains her relationship by saying, “Rosaleen had worked for us since my mother died. My daddy– who I called T. Ray because ‘Daddy’ never fit him” (2). This quotation from ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ is by Lily, narrating her relationship with Rosaleen and T. Ray. Rosaleen treats Lily like her daughter as she compliments Lily and gives advice on her decision of fashion school. Comparatively, when Lily tells her father T. Ray about the swarm of bees in her room, T. Ray does not believe her daughter and instead threatens punishment. This quote states Rosaleen genuinely cares for Lily as she thinks for her best while T. Ray does not treat her own
Luckily for Lily, she comes upon the Boatwright sisters once she reaches Tiburon. Because of the fact Lily does not have anyone to share her love with, she is compelled to stay and live with the Boatwrights. At one point in the novel, Lily and August are having a conversation when August asks Lily “What else do you love Lily?”(Kidd 39). Lily then thinks to herself, “No one had ever asked me that before. What did I love? Right off the bat I wanted to say that I loved the picture of my mother…but I had to swallow that back”(39). Lily does not feel comfortable enough yet that she says, “ I love writing poems, just give me something to write, and I’ll love it” despite the fact that Lily really loves August (39). She loves August so much that she would rather stay in Tiburon with the Boatwrights than be with her own father T. Ray. The loss of Deborah results in Lily going to obtain love somewhere other than her own home. This is also why Lily takes Rosaleen with her. Rosaleen is a black nanny who used to work on T. Ray’s farm. She has been there for Lily in the past but she cannot always be there one hundred percent because of her race. Due to Deborah’s death, Lily does not have a mother figure, however, he journey to Tiburon with Rosaleen proves to be a success as she finds the Boatwrights and strengthens her relationship with her nanny, Rosaleen.
When Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, Rosaleen (who is African American) decides she's going to go to town to register to vote, pronto. Lily is kind of bummed out about her upcoming birthday and asks to tag along so she at least gets out of the house on her big day.What should have been a day of triumph for Rosaleen turns into a run-in with the police, which ends with Rosaleen and Lily in jail. Lily is released as soon as T. Ray picks her up, but after a particularly nasty argument with him, she quickly realizes that life in his house represents its own kind of prison—and she's got to break out. Knowing that Rosaleen remains in danger in jail, she resolves to break Rosaleen out as well. She is successful on both counts, and they head