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Throughout chapters 11&12 you find many themes that effect the plot of the novel in a large way. They help show what the characters are going through and the struggles they face, the daily struggle we all face in life.
One theme present in a large portion of the novel is the struggle for equal rights. There are many difficulties that Rosaleen, the three sisters, Zach and other blacks in the 60's face because of their color. Blacks were still looked at as the lesser minority, slaves to the white population (even after the Civil Rights Act), facing racism ever time they stepped out their door.
Another theme is love. Lily yearns to be loved in the story, not yet sure just where she belongs. She is not loved at her own house, so she heads to Tiburon to see of she can fill the empty gap. In Tiburon she meets the three sisters and Zach, four people who open Lily's eyes and show her people do care about her.
Then one of the main morals that is brought up over and over again is grief. Lily has a hard time dealing with her emotions and dosen't know how to handle them. She dosen't want to face the fact that she may have killed her mother and come to face the hardships of life. But, as a twelve year old girl who has never had much support, she needs guidance and advice from someone who will be there for her. Lily begins to see that she has these type of people now present in her life and begins to make the transformation from a child to a young adult.
Finally, as you read through the book other themes pop out at you more than others, some more signifigent than the rest, that help you to understand Lily and what she is going through. -
Posted by ChrissyT on 11/25/02; 3:53:29 PM
from the Themes dept.
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| Amazon.com Reviews Our Book
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Here is a Link to Amazon.com, they have the book for sale as well as many reviews done by literary journals and people like you.
The Secret Life of Bees at Amazon.com -
Posted by Shawn H on 9/27/02; 10:45:56 AM
from the Links dept.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/26/02; 6:48:01 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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The themes for chapter 9 and 10 would most closely be compared to that of realization. Realization can be in many different degrees and is not always looked at as a theme Realization does change a persons perspective which can brighten or dim the mood of the entire book and chapter 9 and 10 has a large amount of that. When Lily got stung by the bees on 167 even though she was showing them love which she would later realize is that some things just happen no matter how hard you try to prevent them from happening.June also realized that when she got in the water fight with Lilly this realization would show june that race really shouldnt matter that much at all if they all show equal amounts of friendship towards each other. Another realization is that which Lilly finds out from May when she asks her about her mother after finding her leaving a trail of food for roaches to exit the house. Another realization that lilly went through is that in which she must admit that she does like Zach even though he is of the opposite color.
The Largest form of realization that did take place in these two chapters but mainly chapter 10 is facing the fact that the actions that some of us take lead to consequences that affect those that you do care about even though you didnt mean to affect them. This is basically referring to the arrest of Zach when he stood up with his friends after a projectile struck a white man in the back of the head. Since no one confessed they all went to jail. August, June, Rosaleen, and Lilly try to keep this information about zachs arrest away from may as much as possible due to her content that she shows towards him. The consequence is she winds up comitting suicide some people may arugue that it wasnt just that which made her want to leave that way and some may think there was even more then that from what I saw as I read it seemed like it was the last straw. We all deal with realizations in our life and so do these characters these realizations will better the characters in this story and hopefully will act as a catalyst for certain events to pop up faster then if these realizations didnt. Personally that is what I think the themes of these chapters is about. -
Posted by Eric S on 9/26/02; 6:47:22 PM
from the Themes dept.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/26/02; 6:46:21 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/26/02; 6:44:43 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/26/02; 6:41:23 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| symbols for chapters 11 and 12
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There are many different forms of symbolism in chapters 11 and 12, some of wich are right up front and easy to recognize and others that are harder to see. The first is is the week long mourning period that August goes through because of the death of her sister. I feel that this is symbolic to the effect of what Lily is going through in her own life and the fact that she needs to learn how to drop her mothers death from her own conscience. There is also the dessert of peanuts and coke that August gets for Lily wich is one of the first signs of Augusts true love and caring for Lily. Then June agrees to finaly marry Neil wich is showing the ability for all people in life to get over the past and move on to the future. Then at the end of chapter eleven Zach gives Lily his dog tag wich hangs down over her heart symbolizing him being close to her heart at all times. There is also Auguts room with all of the different blues in it wich is symbolic of her cool even temper and her natural ability of understanding. -
Posted by Dain N. on 9/26/02; 12:21:59 PM
from the Symbols dept.
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In chapter thirteen lily starts out trying to go to sleep, but she cant stop thinking about her mother. She lies there sweating in sorrow thinking of the reasons why her mother would have left her. Soon sorrow changes to anger and she flips out and starts to trough honey jars, trays, and other miscellaneous around the room. During her spaz moment she cut herself and before she knows it she falls asleep. In the morning hours lily is awaken by Rosaleen who was filled with fear because of the honey and glass, which was all over the room (not to mention lily’s arm). Rosaleen took lily to the bathroom to clean out her cut and to find out what was really going on. Lily finally had found out that August had lived with her mother three months after her mother moves from sylvan (town where lily lives) and her mother went back and got killed. Rosaleen was shocked but not completely she knew that this was pretty much the story from the bits and pieces form conversations she had overheard. Lily way upset to know that Rosaleen knew but soon understood why she didn’t tell what she knew. Lily and Roasleen when there are done in the bathroom they clean lily’s room.
Later that day Neil and Zach carried Mays body out for that ceremony June played her music and august said her words.. In the middle o the ceremony august poured honey on “their lady’s head” lily baffled by this watched. Family and friends joined in to help rub it in because it was a preservative lily soon joined. Everyone started to fell happy again. After everyone had august brought lily in a box. It happened to have her mothers belonging that she had left behind the picture hit her the hardest. She saw a picture of her mother feeding her happily with their faces touching. She was finally happy and had closer. -
Posted by Beth K. on 9/26/02; 9:02:05 AM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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The ch 13 disscussion was based on three main questions. The first was who is the queen of this story? Lily was the main answer to this question because people believed that everything folled lily and that things were centerning around her being there. The second question was how is our lady of chaind symbolic of any charter? In this question august was found to be the one who had the most symbolic nature to our lady of chains. Reasons behind it is because she is a black woman in the south with a profitable business and a house. Shes the exception to the unmade law of blacks not being able to have a nice lifestyle in this time period. the third and final questioin is in what singifant way has lily change from the beginning of the book? The main answer to that is her dealing with her mothers death. In the beginning she was searching for the truth to what happend and by the end of this she has been searching for a family. -
Posted by Brett C on 9/26/02; 8:53:05 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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Throughout chapters 11&12 you find many themes that effect the plot of the novel in a large way. They help show what the characters are going through and the struggles they face, the daily struggle we all face in life.
One theme present in a large portion of the novel is the struggle for equal rights. There are many difficulties that Rosaleen, the three sisters, Zach and other blacks in the 60's face because of their color. Blacks were still looked at as the lesser minority, slaves to the white population (even after the Civil Rights Act), facing racism ever time they stepped out their door.
Another theme is love. Lily yearns to be loved in the story, not yet sure just where she belongs. She is not loved at her own house, so she heads to Tiburon to see of she can fill the empty gap. In Tiburon she meets the three sisters and Zach, four people who open Lily's eyes and show her people do care about her.
Then one of the main morals that is brought up over and over again is grief. Lily has a hard time dealing with her emotions and dosen't know how to handle them. She dosen't want to face the fact that she may have killed her mother and come to face the hardships of life. But, as a twelve year old girl who has never had much support, she needs guidance and advice from someone who will be there for her. Lily begins to see that she has these type of people now present in her life and begins to make the transformation from a child to a young adult.
Finally, as you read through the book other themes pop out at you more than others, some more significent than the rest, that help you to understand Lily and what she is going through. -
Posted by ChrissyT on 9/25/02; 10:20:58 PM
from the Themes dept.
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| Rosaleen Charchter Sketch
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Rosaleen is a black woman who wants independence and equal rights. She believes in equal rights for all including black women. She got a fight in a early chapter about voting because she was too proud of the fact that she could vote and shoved it in white mens faces. Even though she had the equal rights racism still existed and she was beaten jailed beaten some more and she didn't even get her voters regestration card. She is a very trustworthy character because she sticks with Lily during the entire book and is there when Lily needs her. Even though Rosaleen does stupid things like pooring her spit juice on the white mens shoes she does defend Lily and when Lily needed her to lie about her and Rosaleen in chapter 10, Lily was afraid Rosaleen would mess up but she handled it real well and convinced the officer -
Posted by Brian W on 9/25/02; 10:07:02 PM
from the Characters dept.
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| Chapter 10 Discussion Summary
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In chapter 10 we discussed about May's death and how it affected the sisters and Lily. May committed suicide and she was found in the river with a rock on her. The group of people didn't find out till later that it was suicide. Mays death affected the group of people she lived with because she wasn't happy with something which was unsetteling. Lily most of all was affected because May knew her mother and then she was worried about the police showing up and asking questions and maybe remembering Rosaline. Lily was also affected when the police officer told her to get out of the house and move in with her "aunt" ("Whatever glue had kept me together throughout all that cracked then."). The officer didn't want to see Lily at that same house next time he came back. Zach also got released from jail which probably helped Lily out emotionally because she was close to May and now that May is gone Zach is back to essentially "fill May's place" -
Posted by Brian W on 9/25/02; 9:38:56 PM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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Chapter 10 starts out with May missing. June, August, Rosalene and Lily are sitting in the kitchen waiting for her. After twenty minutes the get flashlights and go into the woods past the Wailing Wall looking for her. All three of them walk through the woods calling Mays name. When there is no answer they then send June to the house to call the police and to pray to Mary for help. As they reach the river they see May lying in the river dead with a large stone on her chest. When the police arrived, Lily is asked many questions. This upset here since they seemed more concerned about her staying with a black family than about here dead friend. As Lily described it she was having the dumbest conversation in her life. Moreover the next day the find a suicide not from May saying my life is over it your time to live. -
Posted by Brett J on 9/24/02; 2:43:28 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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| Chapter 9 Discussion Summary
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The Chapter nine class discussion focused on the point of whether or not Lily was afraid to find out about her mother, or just nervous. Many people thought that Lily didn't even want to know about her mother, once she found out that May had known her well. Others thought that Lily was just nervous and didn't know how to react. It can be interperated in many ways, but we came to the conclusion that Lily is definitely nervous, and isn't in a hurry to find out about who her mother is. (Written by Geoff Watkinson) -
Posted by Don Ginty on 9/24/02; 8:42:37 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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| Artistic Interpretation 11-12
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Created by Jared Baker
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/24/02; 6:47:05 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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Created by Geoff Watkinson
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/24/02; 6:45:38 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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This chapter started were chapter 13 ended, Lily and August just got done looking at her mothers things in the hat box. August and Zach went to take care of the bees. Lily decided to stay back and be by her self.
Lily spent alot of 14 by her self. She would walk down to the river and just think. She would think of here mother, her new family, her old family, and any thing that cought her eye.
Lily finaly got over most of one day. The day she got over it, was the day Rosaleen was going to register to vote. This cought Lily off gaurd. She could not belive that she was going to do this after what happend the last time. Rosallen asked if she wanted to go, but Lily said no.
Lily called up Zach to see what was new. Zach asked how she was, and a whole bunch of other things. She only wanted to know about him. He said he going to a white high school. After that Rosallen came home a voter, and she was happy.
Lily was in the house by her self when a person came to the door. When she opened it there was T-ray. He was very upset at her, for running away. He was mad that she was living with blacks. He tried to take her home but she would not go. He then hit her she feel to the ground. She moved into the other room were he held he hair and was yelling at he like she was her mother. Then he realized what he did and gave up. He let lily stay with August but not without a little fight.
In the end Lily came to grips with he mother, and started down the road to a normal life. -
Posted by KyleL on 9/22/02; 11:25:33 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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Lyndon B. Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in central Texas. During World War II he served briefly in the Navy as a lieutenant commander. After the war he rose in stature in the political arena. Soon he was senate majority leader. Then in the 1960 presidential campaign Johnson was elected Vice President with JFK. On November 22, 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson was sworn in as President. On that day he pledged to continue JFK’s ideals. He continued this by signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.This banned illiteracy tests and removed other obstacles that prevented blacks from voting.
This act enabled Rosaleen exercise her right to vote. -
Posted by Shawn H on 9/22/02; 10:13:57 PM
from the Historical Events dept.
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| "My Artistic Representation of the Honey Mess in Chapter 13
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Posted by Shawn H on 9/22/02; 8:32:38 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| My Artistic Representation of the Roach Trick
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Posted by Shawn H on 9/22/02; 8:18:11 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| My Artistic Representation of May's Suicide Note
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Posted by Shawn H on 9/22/02; 8:17:15 PM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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Chapter 9 starts out with August waking Lily up and telling her “It was gonna be a scorcher.” They soon left to water the bees which took them the entire morning. During the morning Lily was stung and August said, “Count yourself initiated, you can’t be a true beekeeper without getting stung.” When they returned home may was sipping sweet tea on the back porch. They ate cold pork chop sandwiches and then may and Rosaleen began running through the sprinkler. Soon Lily and August joined in. Lily saw June and sprayed her. A struggle for the sprinkler ensued which ended in both of them on the ground laughing. June Boatwright hugged Lily.
The heat became so unbearable that they had to sleep to stay cool. While in bed Lily struggled with thoughts of her mother. Lily soon walked to the pink house and saw May sitting on the floor. May had made a trail of marshmallows and graham crackers to lead the roaches outside. Lily recalled T. Ray mentioning her mother doing the same thing. Lily made the connection and decided she should ask if may ever knew a Deborah Fontanel. May replied yes. “She stayed out there in the honey house” Questions filled Lily’s brain. The next few days lily was nervous with anticipation of what she might find out about her mother. That afternoon Zach came over and asked Lily to get a radiator hose with him for his truck. In town Zach met his friends and they were shortly approached by an angry white man. Lily looked on from within Zach’s truck as one of Zach’s friends threw a bottle at the man. All four boys were taken to jail. When Rosaleen returned home and realized what had happened to Zach, she took Lily to visit him. When she came back she found that May discovered the bottle incident as well. May said she was going to the wall and wanted to be alone. May left the pink house.
Shawn Hunt -
Posted by Shawn H on 9/22/02; 8:16:47 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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| Chapter 12 discussion summary
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Most of the chapter 12 summary focused on wether or not Lily should move on after the death of her mother, or if she needs more time to grieve. Dane felt very stongly about his opinion. He thought that grief is something you can turn on and off. He thinks that Lily should be able to get over her mother and move on with her life. Mr. Richardon argued that Lily is only fourteen years old. She is just comming to terms with what happened to her mother and it is not possible to turn grief on and off. Tim agreed with Mr.Richardon and said that, "you can not just get over." Most people think that you can just get over grief, but in reality it takes time. You can't get over it, you can only try to deal with it. Dane says, "Lily is not in touch with reality, she goes from extreme to the next." Other people argue that she is only fourteen, she does not even understand what grief is. Mr. Richardon says that "you can't think in those terms at that age, he tells Dane that if he was that age, then he would probably deal the same way." Mr. Richardon concluded the discussion by saying, "I dont think life is so black and white, you can't just decide how you are going to feel."
By Ashley Brengel -
Posted by Ashley B. on 9/21/02; 3:58:46 PM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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Some themes from chapters seven and eight were equality, racism and first loves. The equality theme stems from the fact that Lily is white and the rest of the people in the house are black. everyone is supposed to be equal and for the most part they are. the only problem is the relationship that June has with Lily. i think that June resents Lily in the house and she is not one to hide it. and i think lily resents being treated coolly by June when she has done nothing to offend her.
On page, 119, lily talks about the conversation at the dinner table, ""How are things coming with you?", she'd [June] say every night night at the table. Like she'd rehearsed this in the mirror. I'd say, "things are coming fine. And how are they coming with you, June?" this is an example of the kinds of routine things that Lily and June did simply to please August. these things especially the distaste June has for Lily hint at the theme of racism.
the last theme, first love, is for the relationship that Zach and Lily are trying to avoid. they are both young and have never been involved in something as dangerous (in the sense of love) as the white-black romance they are trying to avoid. i think this is a big step for Lily because it shows some degree of feeling of worth for her to be able to go for it. i also think it shows that Zach is his own person and is not willing to make everything so blakc and white and say all white people are bad and are against him although that's probably the easiest thing to do at that point. -
Posted by cassandras on 9/19/02; 8:55:36 PM
from the Themes dept.
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| themes of chapters 3 through 6
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The two main themes in chapters three through six are trust and acceptance. In these chapters Lily trusts the objects that were her mothers to guide her to the right place in Tiburon, South Carolina. On her way there she arrives at a store where she is immediately accepted based on her skin color. Later on, she arrives at the pink house of the Calandar sisters where she wishes to be accepted by everyone living in the house. Lily puts her trust into them and hopes they will love her in return. -
Posted by vicky on 9/19/02; 6:42:50 PM
from the Themes dept.
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By Katie V.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/19/02; 7:18:34 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| Artistic Interpretation 9-10
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By Kyle L.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/19/02; 7:17:34 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| Artistic Interpretation 3-6
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By Christina K.
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Posted by Don Ginty on 9/19/02; 7:16:51 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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The chapter opens with the decision of August to the shut down the honey making business. All of the girls are very depressed and they done really do much during the days anymore. They eat their meals in their rooms and are gloomy walking around. Zach visits Lily a few times, he is still wanting to be a lawyer but now he wants to be one so that he can change things, like the injustices that he felt while in jail.
To make the mood better, Rosaleen makes a dinner that they eat by candlelight. At the end of the meal August pulls out bottles of coke and peanuts, remembering that it was a favorite of Lily’s.
Lily slept late the next morning and when she came into the house she found that everything was crazy with cooking and decorating the house for "Mary Day" something that Lily had never heard of. While they were cooking in walked Neil and he asked June, in front of everyone, if she would marry him. She accepted, thinking about what August had told her about living her life.
After much work, the Daughters of Mary came over and started the celebration. Lunelle told Lily that she would make her a hat, which made Lily very happy. That night they went through a set ritual of celebrating Mary Day. They stood in a circle feeding each other honey cakes and then took the Mary statue to the honey house and chained her up, in remembrance of what the slave owner tried to do to contain Mary.
During the service Lily left and was met by Zach outside the honey house, they walked holding hands through the woods toward the river. Lily told a story about a time that some boys had held her down and put a necklace of dying fish around her neck, this troubled her by how angry the boys were, and she made Zach promise that he wouldn’t ever become this angry. Zach and Lily started kissing and then they talked for a while and Zach promised that he was going to become a lawyer and once he had been able to become somebody, he would find her and then they could be together, as a memento of his promise he gave her his dog tag. -
Posted by Tim K. on 9/18/02; 5:48:15 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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Chapter 9:
When the book said, “ Pull one wrong thread and I would be standing in wreckage to my elbows.” I believe it meant that if Lily didn’t take her time and think things through that everything would come out and unravel around her. Lily knew that she would have to confront August soon. Lily needed to know about her mother before T. Ray would find her and her curtain of protection would fall. Like a boy in her class once said, “Every human being on the face of the earth had a steel plate in his head, but if you lie down now and then and get still as you can, it will slide open like elevator doors, letting in all the secret thoughts that have been standing around so patiently, pushing the button for a ride to the top. The real troubles in life happen when those hidden doors stay closed for too long.” Lily I believe had her finger on the button waiting for her mouth (elevator doors) to open and allow the ride to be over and come clean with the calendar sisters about her true life as Lily Owens and let go of her life as Lily Williams. Lily needed to relax and just let the doors open. She was at the top floor of the elevator nowhere else to go but down and she needed to take to take the risk that she might be helped off that elevator of lies or become apart of the ground floor and still not receive what she set out to find which was the story of her mother. She knew that the doors needed to be opened and it would be bad to let them stay closed any longer. She went our in search of August to let the elevator doors open and let Lily Owens’s story set free with truth.
Chapter 10:
“When we had all the hives covered,” “A city of mourning. Even the humming turned gloomy under the black drapes, low and long like foghorns must sound going across the sea at night.” It seemed as though everyone even the bees were to feel the sorrow of May’s death. Like all of South Carolina was covered with long black drapes. August told Lily an old saying, “When a bee flies, a sole will rise.”Like when a bell rings an angel gets its wings. August then explained that it meant, “A person’s sole will be reborn into the next life if bees are around.” I think that the symbolism of covering the hives was to ensure that May would come back to life, to be reborn. August wanted all the hives to be covered to make sure that if there was truth to this story of bees flying and a person’s sole reborn that May’s sole had the best chances of coming back into life somehow. August said, “Putting black cloths on the hives was for us. I do it to remind us that life gives way into death, and then death turns around and gives way to life.” August took the one great thing she loved (bees) and made them her comfort and guide to get through the death of her sister May. She thought that even if it was a silly old saying that at least it would give her some sort of comfort something to believe in to get her through and to help everyone else get through the pain. It kept her occupied and allowed her to believe somehow that May would be okay. August need her bees to get her through and she found comfort in allowing herself to believe that those bees would take care of May and allow her sole to be reborn. -
Posted by Ricki H. on 9/16/02; 9:46:22 PM
from the Symbols dept.
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| Chapter 3 Summary by brett for students to enjoy
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Lily and Rosaleen fell asleep alongside a tree in a feild on their way to find the honey. They have slept half the morning away and still not fully awake. Roseleen was snoreing and drooling while Lily was awake thinking about her mother and the picture she had of the black virgin mary. She finally awoke Rosaleen and they started to get a move on with their day. Lilly was thinking that it would be easy to find a place to stay or to eat but Rosaleen turned that down telling her that shes with a black lady and people dont take kindly to blacks even know the civil rights act. Lily founcd food for them at a local general store and stole a can of snuff. she say the honey on the wall and asked about it. She found out where the honey farm was located and how to get there. They then found a newspaper and bought it to find out if they were in the newspaper for being lost or runaways. Thats the end hope you enjoyed it. -
Posted by Brett C on 9/13/02; 9:06:52 AM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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| Ch.7 Discussion Why does June resent Lily?
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When Lily first comes to August's house in Tiburon, she is welcomed in with open arms. "Well, you can stay here till you figure out what to do. We can't have you living on the side on the road,"said August. "The intake of June's breath nearly sucked the air from the room. But August-(pg.72)" August knows only a small portion of information on Lily, and dosen't question her before allowing her into the family. By these actions June is very offended, and can tell there is a lying side to Lily. She dosen't like this side that she sees and is learing at allowing her into the house.
She is a fair, white skined girl, who claims to be heading to Virginia to visit her Aunt, stopping for a short period of time to make some money for the bus fair. August offers to call her Aunt to get her some bus money, but Lily refuses the offer and plays dumb. "I don't exactly know her whole name, I said." "My father just called her Aunt Bernie; I never met her(pg.74)." Lily, raveled in her own eyes, makes it very obvious to others around her that her story is is a lye.
After things settle down in the house, June gets to thinking a little more. June is worried about disturbing there way of living in the south. For being Black people in South Carolina in the 1960's, they are excepted extremely well. But, will the whole story change if anyone were to find out they were harboring a white girl? Lily, introuding on there space, has no idea what segregation is all about. Worried that there excepted life may be changed, June begins to get rather unpatient with the situation.
Finally the issue between Lily and Zach sets the stage for deep concern. In the 1960's the thought of a White girl being with a Black man was highly unexcepted. Lily and Zach find themselves becoming close and Zach realizes that it must end. -
Posted by ChrissyT on 9/13/02; 6:52:48 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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The basic discussion around chapter six was more about racism then anything else mainly because when Lily went to go up and tough the black Madonna June stops playing music and everyone is staring at Lily who wants to join in the festivities. After this action taken by June Lily faints and Rosaleen and august take extra care of her. Lily herself didn't have much of reaction to it considering the heat most likely made her faint rather then June's rude reaction to Lily's action.
We also discussed the black Madonna and what it symbolized. I believe the class decided that the black Madonna was symbolizing how religion couldn't be taken away from someone because it is what they believe in and that beliefs are the hardest things to take away from someone which gives those who believe in the black Madonna strength and pride. -
Posted by Eric S on 9/13/02; 6:48:49 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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This chapter talked mostly about childhood and how it affected your life, as you grew older. August explained a childhood tradition that her mother created for her and her two sisters June and May, which would be done during the months in which they were named for. This tradition consisted of being excused from chores, letting the girls eat all their favorite foods, and allowing them to stay up as late as they wanted. During August’s month she would wait until her sisters went to bed and curl up on the couch and read. As August was explaining all this to Lily it was seen that August is a warm loving person and Lily is coming to admire and even love her as she would her own mother.
During the day while working in the honey house or out in the fields August would use this time to teach Lily about working with bees and also telling her stories about her life and giving Lily the chance to feel safe with her and learn that she could trust August. Lily was finally starting to feel like someone really cared about her other than Rosaleen. Lily was frightened that if she did or said the wrong thing that it would destroy her relationship with August so during their discussions she remained cautious but as the chapter progressed little by little Lily was telling August more and asking more questions. One day while Lily and August were pasting labels to the honey jars Lily asked about the black Virgin Mary and why she used it on the jars. August responded explaining that it was not unusual to see the Virgin Mary black that only in this Country people seemed to think it was different She proceeded to tell Lily a story about collecting prayer cards with the black Madonna's picture on them and reading everything she could find about her. August tried to broaden the conversation with Lily to build the trust between them. Lily seemed to start opening up and would shut down before revealing too much. August was always honest and truthful in her conversations with Lily. They discussed August’s past and Lily was always interested. August told Lily the reason she painted her house pink was because of May. “You know something’s don’t matter that much Lily, like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person’s heart”now that matters.
August and Lily went on bee patrol. Lily felt there wasn’t anything August didn’t know about bees. August explained all the different things bees do and why. August also knew about the bee’s habits and told Lily what to expect from the bees and how to handle different situations.
Mealtimes everyone usually talked about different things that were happening at home or around town and even newsworthy items. The meals usually went on like a family reunion. Someone always seemed to get upset about one thing or another and leave the table.
Zack, a work hand for August, and Lily went into town to finish delivering honey. Zack who would have liked being a lawyer was very interested when they delivered the honey to Mr. Forrest. Mr. Forrest was an attorney would talk to Zack about different things about the law. Mr. Forrest and Zack left Lily in the waiting room while they discussed legal things. Lily became bored while waiting for Zack and picked up the telephone and called T. Ray collect.
T. Ray was loud and screaming at Lily to tell him where she was. Lily wanted T. Ray to tell her he loved her and he missed her. Lily wanted T. Ray to tell her he cared. T. Ray did none of these only screamed at Lily to tell him where she was. Lily hung the telephone up and waited to go back to the pink house.
Lily wrote a letter to T. Ray telling him what she felt of him as a father. Lily ripped the letter into little pieces but felt better for having written it. That evening Lily prayed to the Mary statue for Mary to fix her. She wanted the Mary statue to make June and T. Ray love her and to take meanness out of peoples hearts. Lily also asked the statue to not let T. Ray find her and take her back. -
Posted by Ricki H. on 9/12/02; 4:22:55 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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In the beginning of chapter 7 of the secret life of bees Lily was deep in thought. She realized that her and Rosaleen had been at the calendar sisters house for 8 days. She was deep in thought and worried because she was afraid of someone finding her and Rosaleen. "Part of me was always braced for T.Ray or Mr. Shoe Gaston to drive up and end my charmed life." She also says, "I didn't know how long black Mary could keep the curtain drawn." Another extrodinary thing happens. She remembered Zach was coming back and they finally meet face to face. During the middle of this chapter Zach and Lily discover and friendship between them and Lily discovers "how I laugh, May crys." She realizes people have different views of things and different interests. Towards the end of the book Lily and Zach find a strong attraction between them. "I would get killed for even looking at a white girl like you." -
Posted by Meghan H on 9/12/02; 2:54:55 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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| artistic interpretations chapters 7-8
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By Beth K.
This is a picture of Lily and Zack when they go on there jouneys everyday trough the feilds, working for the bees. -
Posted by Beth K. on 9/12/02; 9:06:10 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
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In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court decided on what is know today as one of the most famous and important rulings on the integration of public schools all across the nation. Up until 1954 the nation's segregation policy was run under the "separate but equal" doctrine, as set forward by the famous Plessy v. Ferguson court case of 1896. After the ruling of Brown v. The Board of Education was handed down, southern schools that were still segregated were ordered to desegregate with "all deliberate speed". This didn't go over very smoothly with many schools in the south and actually led to such incidents as the Little Rock, Arkansas, school crisis.
Even though the integration of the south took quite some time after the court ruling of Brown v. The Board of Education, this ruling gave a lot of fuel to the fire that was beginning to burn in the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s which changed the way our country is today. -
Posted by Tim K. on 9/12/02; 8:57:03 AM
from the Historical Events dept.
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| Chapter 1&2 Artistic Interpretation
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By Tim K.
This picture sums up the relationship between Lily and T. Ray that is introduced in the first two chapters of the novel. T. Ray was a very possesive person who, instead of dealing with the problems in their relationship, would rather keep Lily locked up at home. If he loved her at all he wasn't quick to show it. That is why the pictures and the bars are situated where they are. -
Posted by Tim K. on 9/12/02; 8:55:53 AM
from the Artistic Interpretations dept.
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| What do you think will happen to Lily?
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Now that we're half way through the book, make some predictions about how you think the book will wind up. Login and click on the discuss link below. -
Posted by Don Ginty on 9/12/02; 6:41:35 AM
from the Miscellany dept.
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After reading chapter four and being given a summary, the class answered a few questions on the chapter. The first question was "why doesn't Lily want to tell her story right away?" Some of the comments made about this question were that Lily was smart, and she did not want to lay all of her story out at once. She was trying to gain the trust of August and the other Calendar sisters so that later on when she did decide to tell them her story they wouldn’t turn her away. Another comment was that if Lily did tell her story to them right away, and they had known her mother, they might have kept something from her trying to protect her from the truth of something.
Next, our class answered the question of "what is Lily's motivation?" The class responded with a couple of different answers. Some of the people thought perhaps T-Ray was Lily's motivation in this story. He motivates her in the way that she wants to prove him wrong. That her mother didn't leave her and that she truly did love Lily. Others thought that Lily's motivation was to leave everything. To get away from her father, T-Ray, to start her life over again, to take the only person that she felt loved her, Rosaleen, and just get out.
While answering the questions at times the class got caught off track. A question came up of "why does Lily get to upset with Rosaleen for doing things such as belching, or any other unmannered action?" The class responded with that Rosaleen isn't lady like. Lily becomes embarrassed with Rosaleen's behavior much as a mother would if her daughter was misbehaving. Lily in some aspects acts like a mother to Rosaleen. She tries to take care of her and almost over power her in some sense. -
Posted by vicky on 9/11/02; 9:48:11 PM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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In chapter 6 Lily and Rosaleen meet Neil for the first time. Neil is a machanic who was working on there truck. Neil wants June to marry him but June wont even though she likes him. Even her sisters tried convincing her to marry him but she just wont do it. After breakfast the 3 sisters, Lily, and Rosaleen went to the Daughters of Mary for services. There Lily and Rosaleen were told the story of Our Lady of Chains and how it got its name. Towards the end of the service the ladies would go to the statue and touch it everybody did even Rosaleen but when it was Lily's turn June stopped playing the music so Lily couldnt touch the statue. She felt it was because she was white. Then a few minutes later she fainted. Towards the end of the chapter August told Lily that our lady lived on the moon and if they went on the moon how it wouldnt be the same. -
Posted by jgurski on 9/11/02; 4:59:26 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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In the beginning of Chapter 7 Lily meets Zach for the first time face to face. She was so amazed about how handsome he was for a colored boy. She said how when she went to school she would laugh at comments made by kids about negros and their big noses and lips. After meeting Zach she said how wrong everybody was. She also says later on in the Chapter "I imagined us building a snow cave, sleeping with our bodies twined together to get warm, our arms and legs like black-and-white braids." This statement proves that Lily likes Zach. So my symbol would have to be a big red heart for love. Not only for the love that Lily has for Zach but for the love she is longing to have from the Calendar sisters and by a mother type figure. -
Posted by Meghan H on 9/11/02; 8:21:43 AM
from the Symbols dept.
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In chapters 1 and 2, there were just a few symbols. In chapter 1, one of the biggest actions was when Rosaleen poured the tobacco juice onto the three white men's shoes. When she did this, it symbolized how proud she was to be african american. On television she had just seen the Civil Rights Act being signed, and therefore, she felt bigger; almost equal to the white men. Another meaning could also come out of this. It is also possible that Rosaleen poured the juice on the shoes to show Lily, who was standing aside, that you have to stand up for yourself.
Another symbol was in chapter 2. Lily talked back to her father when he was yelling at her. She told him that she was not scared of him and that he was wrong about her mother. This symbolized that she did not have the best relationship with her dad, and that she had some doubts about what he was saying to her; she didn't think he was telling the truth. It also symbolized that she might not love him at all.
The last symbol was when she had her "religious experience". She heard a Godly voice that said "Lily, your jar is open". This phrase was to symbolize that it was time for Lily to become free. It was time to get away from T. Ray. The phrase referred to the bees that she had been collecting in her jar. When she opened the jar to let the bees go, the bees jar was open. Now, Lily's jar was open. It was time for her to leave, and that is exactly what she did. -
Posted by Toni G. on 9/11/02; 8:21:42 AM
from the Symbols dept.
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| Summary of Chapter Two Class Discussion
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In our discussion the class talked about the facts of the story of what happened the day Lily's mother died keep changing. T-Ray constantly changes the stroy and Lily beleives it is to punish her for doing bas things. We talked about how it sounded alot like T-Ray is trying to cover up for having somthing to do with the death of his wife and he is using Lily to lay blame away from himself. The question also came up about T-Ray actually loveing Lily or not, but the class was basicaly split when it came to a vote between yes and no on this topic. We aslo talked about why Lily went to all of the trouble to break Rosaleen out of jail, did she do it for companionship on her run away trip, or does she acttualy have love for the women. The class basicaly came to the conclusion that Lily does have alot of love and compasion for Rosaleen and broke her out of jail because of it. So now that she has escaped T-Ray and has finaly gotten out in the world on her own what will come nextt for Lily and her travling companion? Where is this book going and what actually happened that dayin the bedroom when Lily's life was lost? -
Posted by Dain N. on 9/11/02; 8:15:48 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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| Chapter 5 Class Discussion
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Chapter five was discussed and it was largely agreed upon that the book slows down and gives a chance for depth and character developement.
The class debated about whether or not Lily is a bad person. Some people said she was because she steals (Rosaleen's snuff) and lies a lot and breaks people out of jail. Others said that this was excusable because of her history of grit torture and lack of parental guidence and support. And still others said it was not excusable but explainable; there are mitigating factors to the judgement of her behavior.
We decided that Lily wants to wait to tell her story because she is looking for a place to relax for a while and wants the Boatwright sisters to see the good parts of her before hearing that she is a fugitive from the law and from T. Ray. -
Posted by cassandras on 9/11/02; 8:05:27 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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The Beggining of Chapter 2 started off with Mr. Avery Gaston driving Lily and Rosaleen to jail because Rosaleen spit on three white mens shoes. As they were driving, the three men started driving really close to the car and honking there horns and yelling at Lily and Rosaleen to try and scare them. They finally drove off and Mr. Gaston pulled of into an empty parking lot where the three men were waiting for them. Mr. Gaston guided Rosaleen out of the car and handcuffed her hands behind her back. The three men told her she better apologize, but she refused so the men proceeded to beat her face with a flashlight. After Rosaleen fell to the ground Mr. Gaston then stopped the men and he said, "Now's not the time."
He then took Rosaleen and Lily to jail.
Then T.Ray came to pick Lily up from the jail, but did get Rosaleen. T.Ray was furious and told Lily that Rosaleen was stupid for spitting on those mens shoes and that they would probably kill her. She began to fear even more for Rosaleen and at the same time was furious at the fact that T.Ray left Rosaleen in jail.
Lily finally snapped when T.Ray told her to wait in her room for her punishment. She said to him, "You don't scare me." After she said that he tried to hit her, but she turned her head and he missed. They argued back and forth and T.Ray told her that her mother never cared about her and when she was packing that day of the accident, she was plannng on leaving Lily there. Lily was upset for awhile, but she finally came to the conclusion that T.Ray made that up because he wanted to punish her.
Lily then had what she called, "a religous experience" and she said she heard a voice say,"Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open." She then realized she needed to get away from T.Ray and get Rosaleen out of jail. So she packed up her stuff, with no plan of what she was going to do. The only thing she left was a brief note for T.Ray, which he was not happy to discover.
As she was walking, brother Gerald offered to give her ride to he jail, but when she got there Mr. Gaston said she had an accident, she fell, and she was at the hospital. Lily knew what really happened and started yelling at him. When she got to the hospital, she snuck into Rosaleen's room wich she was not allowed in. Lily asked her what happened and she said that those three men had come back to get an apology from her, but still she refused. Lily convinced Rosaleen that they had to leave or those men would surely kill her.
After that, Lily, being the good lier she is, snuck Rosaleen out of jail, they then started there trip to Tiburon because tha was written on the back of Lily's mothers picture. They then hitched a ride to three miles outside of Tiburon with a black man who kindly gave then them to cantalopes after he dropped them off. They found a peaceful spot by a creek to spend there night. There they ate their cantalope and talked about there plans, or should I say Lily's plans.
The chapter ended with lily and Rosaleen swimming on in the creek. Lily was imagining the smell of cold cream and thoughts of her mother.
BY Ashley Brengel -
Posted by Ashley B. on 9/10/02; 7:44:54 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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| Themes for Chapters 1 and 2
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There are quite a few different themes that can be used for Chapters one and two. One theme could be that the loss of a mother never leaves you, that there's always a gap there. This is shown by Lily always feeling like she's missing something and how the quest for learning more about her mother never ends. Another possible theme for chapters one and two is that the main unifying force in a household is the mother. This is shown through Lily and how she craves to have a mother or a figure that is "motherlike". Its also shown through how she never really connects with T. Ray and keeps distant from him. Another possible theme is that when a mother is removed the absence is noticed. Lily definitely notices the absence of her mother and she senses that there's a void in her that she wants to have filled. This also explains Lily's quest to find out more information about her mother. -
Posted by JanetR on 9/10/02; 7:05:20 PM
from the Themes dept.
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| Chapter 3 Class Discussion
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Our class discussion for chapter 3 mostly revovled around Lily and whether she was a good person or a bad person. We talked about how Lily had stolen the snuff for Rosaleen. We questioned whether that was a good thing to do or not and whether it had a purpose. Most defended Lily that it was an ok plan for her to steal the snuff, since she had decided to send the store back a dollar in the mail and that she had Rosaleen in her mind. We also came to the conclusion that Lily had a conscience. We decided that she had a good purpose in mind. We also continued discussing whether Lily was a good person or a bad person. We talked about what made a person good or bad and the different degrees of stealing. Some people thought Lily was a good person, others thought she was bad, and some are still undecided. During the discussion of stealing we also came up with the fans again, and how it would have been alright for Lily to take them but not Rosaleen and how that it was ok for Lily to take the snuff because the man probably would have let her. -
Posted by JanetR on 9/10/02; 6:51:28 PM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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In chapters 3-6 there were a couple of symbols, some having more importance then others. For example the black madonna. To me the black madonna has different meanings for different people. Like for Lily I see it as link to finding her mother or information about her mother. On the other hand for Rosaleen and other blacks I see it giving them the wil and the strength to keep going on even when life brings them down. Since the black madonna has her fist up in the air it shows me that she is giving other black women the power to keep going on. At the same time it is symbolic to Lily and rosaleen in the same inportance because the black madonna is symbolizing feminism. Another symbol in this section of the reading is the moon. When Lily has the dream of the moon breaking in pieces and falling down, it shows how Lily's life is breaking apart and falling. Shes living T-ray and runing off not knowing how shes going to eat or where shes going to sleep, but then when she sees the moon as a whole again, it means that she a whole again. She says on page "Day one of my new life." Shes going to begin and starting out as a whole. -
Posted by jgurski on 9/10/02; 4:30:43 PM
from the Symbols dept.
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| Chapter 5 summary by Toni Lynn Gibson
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In chapter 5, it starts off when the calender sisters bought a few outfits for Rosaleen and put some medication on her stitches on her head. Rosaleen insists that she will pay it all back, but the calender sisters say that she can work it off. May starts crying again, and she then excuses herself to the wailing wall.
Next Lily began telling about what she had learned while working with August and the bees. Not only did she learn the important parts about working with bees like pouring the beeswax into the candle molds and using the honey for every use possible, but she learned silly things like new songs. It also explained how well May and Rosaleen had been getting along. They would work together in the kitchen or spread peanut butter on the pine cones. Being with May so much, Rosaleen figured out that when May is around when something sad happens, May starts to cry right away. She can only live on a happy note. May didn't even allow the family to kill bugs or rats, and Lily liked that because it reminded her of how her mother used to lure the bugs out of the house instead of kill them.
Lily also found out many things about June. June loved playing the cello. However, playing the cello was the only real happy thing she found out. Lily found out that June didn't like the idea of her and Rosaleen staying there very much. She overheard a conversation between August and June where June said she didn't think Rosaleen and Lily should stay long because Lily was white and she must be in some type of trouble.
One night, they all watched television together and it was a show about an african-american parade that was invaded by whites. Lily felt very "white" then; she felt very outcasted. Naturally, the parade being invaded upset May very much and she went off crying again.
Later on that night, they were all praying around the black Mary statue. After praying on the Rosary, August told Lily a story. The story was about how a nun ran away because she was tired of being a nun. She didn't have much of a life outside of being a nun, so she ended up begging on the streets. When she went back to the Beatrix, where she had been a nun, she was almost positive they wouldn't accept her back. However, Mary was there disguised as the nun, so that when she came back, she could have her spot back. Mary watched out for her, and August made Lily aware that if she needed help, she could ask Mary for it.
Lily and August spent the entire next day together. First they went to work with the bees. Then they sat together discussing the story of May and why she gets upset. It turns out that May had a twin sister named April. April did not understand the segregation between whites and blacks, so when the ice cream man told her she could not eat her ice cream inside, she got very upset. Her depression grew, and eventually she commited suicide. This let May's guard down, and she did not have any protection against sad things, so she felt the pain no matter where she went. That is why she cried so much.
After the discussion, Lily went back to bed and Rosaleen gave her a jealous attitude about her spending the entire day with August and not talking to her that much. When Rosaleen finally fell asleep, Lily wrote her mothers name on a piece of paper and went to stick it into the wailing wall. -
Posted by Toni G. on 9/10/02; 3:11:46 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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The 1960's was a revolutionary time for African Americans in the United States, finally beginning to gain rights and status amoung the American population. Rosaleen, an African American worker on a Peach Farm in South Carolina, is chosen to fill in as Lily's mother.
Proud of her freedom Rosaleen heads to town with Lily to excercise her rights and vote. While in town three men trouble her looking for a rise, because she is Black. Rosaleen standing up for herself takes ahold of her spit bottle and pours it across the top of the three mens' shoes. In a primitive white society this action is highly unexcepted. The police are called and Rosaleen and Lily are taken to jail. -
Posted by ChrissyT on 9/9/02; 9:06:07 AM
from the Historical Events dept.
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(Use this as a model.) Most of our discussion on Chapter 1 centered around the relationship between Lily and T. Ray. A number of us thought that on some level, T. Ray loves Lily, and that Lily loves him back. Dane said he felt T. Ray's anger toward Lily stems from the way she reminds him of Deborah, Lily's mother.
We also noted that T. Ray is very careful about what he tells Lily about her mother's death. On pages 18-19, he asks here specifically what she remembers about the incident as if he is making sure that his story will match what Lily remembers.
We also talked about whether or not someone can love someone else yet be cruel to them. The consensus was that this was possible, and many of us feel it's the case here.
In terms of Rosaleen, we had a number of theories as to why she poured her spit jug on the white men's shoes. Some felt that she did it to show Lily that she had to stand up for herself. Others said that she was just tired of putting up with being oppressed for so long. -
Posted by Don Ginty on 9/9/02; 6:46:14 AM
from the Class Discussions dept.
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(Use this as a model...)
Lily is the fourteen year-old narrator of the book, and she lives on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father T. Ray. One night, a swarm of bees appears in Lily's bedroom, but when she brings T. Ray back to see them, they are gone. T. Ray makes gestures like she's crazy, and he threatens to make her kneel on grits if she wakes him up again.
In this chapter, Lily also talks about her memory of her mother's death. Lily was there when her mother and T. Ray were having a violent argument, and she has a vague memory of watching her mom grab a gun from the closet, drop it on the floor, and then go off as Lily picked it up. It's the only memory of her mother that she has. All Lily has to remember her mother by is an old photograph, a pair of white cotton gloves, and a small wooden picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus. On the back was written "Tiburon, SC".
One day, T. Ray comes to tell her what happened to her mother. He says that she was cleaning out a closet, and Lily says that she remembers the gun. T. Ray gets very upset and demands to know everything Lily knows, and she says that all she remembers is picking up the gun off the floor. T. Ray then confirms that Lily accidently killed her own mother.
At one point, Lily falls asleep in the orchard with the artifacts from her mother. T. Ray finds her, thinks that she has been fooling around with a boy, and makes her kneel on grits for an hour as punishment.
Rosaleen is another main character. She is a black worker in the orchard that T. Ray chooses to become Lily's caretaker. She watches President Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act and decides to go into town to register to vote. Lily goes along, and they eventually meet three racist men from town who give Rosaleen a hard time. In an act of defiance or stupidity, Rosaleen pours tobacco juice over their shoes. She gets arrested and she and Lily get taken to jail. -
Posted by Don Ginty on 9/7/02; 6:03:24 PM
from the Chapter Summaries dept.
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Welcome to our weblog/reader's guide for The Secret Life of Bees. Over the next few weeks, we will be adding our reactions, responses, research and more to this site. We're also hoping to have the author join us in the process. (Sue Monk Kidd, if you're reading this, we'd love to have you along!)
If you are a member of our class and you need help with posting or other uses of this site, click on the About link at left. If you're not a member, why not come back and watch the evolution of our work?
Let's start building! -
Posted by Don Ginty on 8/29/02; 10:10:49 AM
from the Miscellany dept.
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