Symbolism In The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

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In “The Secret Life of Bees” Sue Monk Kidd illustrates the importance of a mother figure to the maturation of a child through Lily Owens experiences. The story takes place in the 1960’s however the story develops more in 1964 in South Carolina. The story starts off with the introduction of the main character, Lily Owens, and the fact of her missing her mother from a mysterious accident that had occurred when she was young. Lily is then forced to live with her father, T. Ray, and her “stand-in” mother Rosaleen but her life is not as great compared to other children due to her father being abusive and showing not even a speck of love toward her. She remembered few details, such as the suitcase on the floor, the fight her parents had, the gun that she picked up and accidentally set off (Novels For Students, 228). During this time there was also the passage of the civil rights act, which legally ended racial segregation in schools, at work, and in public facilities (Twenty-First Century Novels: The First Decade, 983). Not only did it end some of the racial issue but it also forbid any form of discriminations toward the basis of sex and race when hiring and promoting practices. All of the issues …show more content…
The main symbol in this story to me would be the bees because it would come to represent children. These bees need a queen to guide and show them the ways of good and bad so in which case the queen of the hive would be representing that “motherly figure” needed for children. For August the black Mary as she says is the mother of all women and even the mother of all humanity. Even though Rosaleen is Lily's stand in mother she does not provide the love and care that lily would see in a mother. However when comparing august to rosaleen when it comes down to who's the better mother in Lily's eyes august is more of that mother figure that lily has been searching for throughout the
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