The end is not the end, it's a new beginning

At this point in the story, Lily has met Zach. At first she is reluctant to allow him to interrupt, but she truly warms up to him in no time at all. They become great friends while they work on the bees, and begin to develop feelings for each other. Later, Lily finds herself curious about June and Neil's relationship, finding out through eavesdropping that June refused to marry a very desperate Neil. She is a bit taken aback by this discovery, but lets it go. She goes back into the honey house to find Rosaleen packing her things to move into the main house with May because of her emotional burdens.

Lily goes out to work, where she becomes flirty and playful with Zach. They finally reveal that they have strong feelings for each other, (like I had predicted) but they are unable to openly express them because Lily is white and Zach is not. A relationship between them would be frowned upon and unaccepted in the society they were in at the time.

Lily also further develops her relationship with August by opening up to her about who she is as a person and what she loves. However, she turns down August's attempt to find out what she is really doing in Tiburon.

Zach and Lily go into to town and visit the local law office to drop off more honey for them to sell. While she is there she sees a photo of the lawyer and a little girl sitting in the main room, and it drudges up unhappy thoughts of her failing relationship with T.Ray. This causes Lily to attempt to contact T.Ray on a payphone, but the conversation comes to nothing but more bad feelings. This made me think that this would definitely not be the last time Lily and T.Ray talked. Later that night, Lily enters the parlor of the main house and looks to the statue of Mary for help.

The next day it was over 100 F, which called for Lily and August to spray sugar in the bee hives to keep them from dieing. When they returned home and finished their lunches, they went outside to find Rosaleen and May playing with the hose. They all joined in except for June, who refused to be immature. That's when Lily took it upon herself to soak June, who became extremely angry and started to fight with her on the ground. At the end of it all, they were all laughing and it became the first time June accepted Lily and the last time she would have a problem with Lily. It opened up a new relationship for the two.

Lily enters the kitchen where May was on the floor trying to lead roaches out of the house in such a way that Lily immediately recognized. It was something that her mother used to do, which sparked her interest. She found out through May that her mother had in fact lived with them long ago. This brought many questions to Lily's mind, and a bit of relief mixed with satisfaction.

Zach and Lily made a trip to the town during the day to see if a movie star was actually visiting their town when they came upon trouble. Zach got involved with some boys and ended up being arrested for something he didn't do. This caused Lily and everyone at home great distress, but they refused to tell May because of her emotional issues for fear of setting her off. However, it took little time before May found out. She tried to keep calm, but she couldn't handle it. She took off for the wailing wall, and refused to allow anyone to accompany her. I think this is a foreshadowing event, because May has never gone to the wall by herself late at night. This makes me think something might happen.

May had spent quite a while out at the wall, which worried everyone and caused them to go out to bring her back home. When they all went to find her, they did. However, she was dead at the bottom of the river. She had drowned herself from being unable to handle Zach's most recent misfortune.

Once the police had came, suspiciously questioned Lily and deemed May's death a suicide, funeral arrangements were made. They brought May's body in a coffin back to the house for a vigil, and spent a lot of time with the statue of Mary. This provoked August to visit the wailing wall to mourn the loss of her sister. On her way back to the house, Lily was outside when Zach showed up. He was released from jail, and back to work.

Zach, August, and Lily went to drape the hives when August told them about beehive tombs and how it causes re-birth for a person buried in one. This made Lily wish that she could have one because of all the fear and burden she carried around.

The vigil continued when August found May's suicide note. She wrote that she loves them, to not be sad because it was her time to go, and to finally live their lives. This caused August to finally sit June down and tell her to marry Neil, and stop avoiding it because it was her time to live and move on. August and June became very distant to Rosaleen and Lily after May's burial, but this only caused Lily to want to finally fess up and tell her the truth.

Lily and Zach express their feelings for each other again, kissing and talking only to end it again because of their skin color. They both agree that it will not work for them to be together. When Lily wakes up the next day late in the afternoon she finds out that they are celebrating Mary Day, an uplifting day paying tribute to mother Mary. August, Rosaleen, and Lily are witness to June finally accepting Neil's marriage proposal much to their excitement.

Finally, Lily decides that it is time to talk to August. They sit down and talk through everything from the lies Lily has told to her motivation to learn about her mother and get answers. That was exactly what Lily got from August, answers. August told her everything about her mother getting pregnant with her, leaving T.Ray, trying to go back to bring her to Tiburon, and never returning. She even gave Lily a box she kept of her mother's possessions that she had left behind. Although Lily got all of the answers she was looking for, it still made her sad to know that her mother had originally left her, even if she did try to come back for her. That night in the honey house, Lily had had an emotional outburst and began to smash jars of honey against the wall and take out all her anger and frustration over her mother and her father and everything else that has happened in her life.

The next day, Rosaleen cleaned up Lily and helped her fix the mess she'd made before the daughters of Mary came over. Lily found some peace with herself after the meeting, and was happy for Rosaleen when she finally got up the courage and chance to go and register to vote. She was left home alone while everyone was out and Rosaleen was registering, much to her dismay at missing the event. Someone had come to the door, and when she answered it, it was the least expected visitor, T.Ray. They were civil with each other until T.Ray began lashing out both verbally and physically at Lily for leaving him like she did. Lily was scared until she realized he wasn't really upset with her, he was trying to give himself closure from her mother from when she left. That was when August had noticed what was going on, but stayed hidden at Lily's request. Finally T.Ray stopped and told Lily they were going home, but Rosaleen and all the other women including the daughters of Mary would not let him take her. He finally gave up, and said that it wouldn't be good for either of them if she came back to the peach farm. As he was pulling away in his truck, Lily couldn't help herself. She stopped him and asked him one last thing, about her mothers death and if it was really her fault. He told her it was, and that was the last time she saw him.

After Lily finally had comfort and love with June, Rosaleen, and August she started school in Tiburon. Even though kids made fun of her and threw things at her, she refused to not be seen with Zach just because he wasn't white. She was finally happy.

Overall, I really loved this story. I thought that it was very uplifting despite all of the sad things that happened (Zach goes to jail, May commits suicide, etc.). There is so many deeper meanings to all the events that happen in the book, such as:

• May's suicide – Live your life with no regrets
• Zach and Lily's relationship – Don't change yourself, change the world
• Lily and T.Ray's relationship – Realize when something needs to change
• The Pink House – A person's feelings mean more than anything else

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, because it has great morals and many lessons to learn. Throughout the book, the theme was redemption and change.

REDEMPTION:

• Lily telling August the truth about her lies
• June finally coming to terms with the past and fixing things with Neil
• Celebrating Mary day and getting back to life after May's death
• T.Ray allowing Lily to live in Tiburon after their explosive encounter

CHANGE:

• Lily leaving T.Ray to find out about her mother and live a better life
• Lily ignoring Zach's skin color to hang out with him at school
• June marrying Neil
• May's death
• Lily learning everything about her mother
• T.Ray's unhealthy relationship with Lily

The mood in this book was overall happiness, but at times it was sad. Through several “bumps in the road” the book managed to end on a high note and leave the reader with a good feeling. The way Sue Monk Kidd writes is from Lily's perspective, which makes the reader feel like they are Lily and that they are going through everything she is. It really helps you connect to her and the story. If I had to choose something that symbolized the entire book, I would choose the Mary statue. I chose this because in the book August tells the story of the statue, and how it was taken away from its worshippers time after time, yet it always found its way back to them. To me this is exactly Lily. No matter what kind of trouble she is getting into or anything that doesn't go right for her, she manages to redeem herself and find her way back to normalcy and forgiveness.

I would give this book a rating of 4/5.

Zach and Lily Prediction

This is a picture of Lily and Zach working on the Honey farm together in the movie. Even in the book, the author describes their interactions like they are shown above. Looking at this and dissecting the words in the book, it makes you think that they like each other more than just friends. They enjoy being around each other very much, and I think they will become more than friends in the near future.

The Secret Life of Sue Monk Kidd

The story of “The Secret Life of Bees” is mostly fictional, but has several minor details that allude to the author's life. The book takes place in the Southern United States which is where Sue Monk Kidd grew up. It also takes place in the 1960's, which is when Sue was a teenager. The main character, Lily, wanted to go to charm school believing it would help her become popular, and Sue herself had attended Charm school to do the same. Both Lily and Sue always wanted to be writers, and they both experienced honey bees invading the walls of their bedrooms. During the 1960's, there was still segregation between “Whites” and “Blacks” and very obvious unequal treatment. Sue had experienced an intense racial divide first hand when the voter registration took place in the summer of 1964, and so did Lily when her nanny Rosaleen decided to vote for the first time.

After Lily and Rosaleen have taken off to Tiburon, Lily goes into a store to buy some things for herself and Rosaleen. At the store, she sees a honey jar with a picture of the Black Virgin Mary like the one she has from her mother's things. She gets the clerk to tell her the origins of the jar, and then takes off once again in search of the place that produces the honey thinking she will get some more information. This leads her to the “Pink House”, which is the residence of the Boatwright sisters (a.k.a. Calendar sisters). August, May, and June allow Rosaleen and Lily to stay with them until they figure out what they're doing. The fact that they automatically allow two strangers to stay with them shows that they are kind and caring women. Also, this combats the reputation that the racial divide lays upon African-Americans. Although June is hesitant about the situation, she lets it go. While they stayed, Lily and Rosaleen help the women with their bee keeping and other jobs around the house. One morning, Lily wanders around the property and comes upon May's “wailing wall” and for the first time discovers May's emotional burdens by pulling out the small pieces of paper wedged between the rocks with peoples names on them. Later, Lily meets Neil. Neil is a man who is head-over-heels in love with June, but whom she refuses to marry. She also meets the “Daughters of Mary” and is inducted into the religious world of the “Calendar Sisters”. Lily then meets Zach, a teenage boy who works for the Boatwright sisters, and becomes great friends with him right away. Judging by Zach and Lily's interactions, I think that this is a foreshadowing event. I think Lily and Zach will become more than friends, but not without tension from their difference of race.

Previously, I had suggested that Lily would not find out much more about her mother. However, I now believe the complete opposite, because of the things Lily is learning. After she saw the honey jar in the store with the same picture of the black Virgin Mary that her mother had kept, I started to re-think my prediction. I now believe Lily has much to learn on her journey to discover the life her mother had led and her quest for answers.

Who they are...

Lily and Rosaleen's Little Adventure

At this point in the story, Lily and Rosaleen leave the house to register Rosaleen to vote. On their way into town, Rosaleen gets into a bit of trouble with some Caucasian men. Insults are said, and Rosaleen ends up pouring her bottle of "snuff" juice on the mens shoes. The men beat her until police arrive, and both she and Lily are taken to the town jail. T. Ray brings Lily home from the jail and is furious with her. He makes her go to her room, where she argues with him about her mother. T. Ray reveals to Lily that her mother left them, and it was Lily who shot her accidentally. Lily is beyond upset and runs away while T. Ray is busy. This answers my prediction of pending issues between Lily and T. Ray, from all the problems and lack of normalcy between them. Lily goes to the jail to find Rosaleen is at the hospital, where she goes and breaks her out. They run away together to Tibouron, S.C. where Lily believes she will learn more about her mother Deborah's existence, hoping to prove T. Ray wrong. On their journey, Lily becomes more delinquent by stealing from a store and fighting with Rosaleen. I think she does these things because she is truly desperate to get away from everything that was her life with T. Ray and it seems fresh to her to be rebellious. I also believe she wants to get to Tibouron to find out more about her mother. I believe she thinks going there will give her answers about her and prove T. Ray was lying. Lily desperately wants to know that her mother was a good person, regardless of the pain and craziness it will cause in her life. If I were to predict what would happen, I would have to say that Lily really won't find out much of anything about her mother in Tibouron. I think this because she is basing this journey off of a picture of The Virgin Mary as a colored woman. It seems like Lily and Rosaleen will end up staying together for a long time, because they have a good relationship. They fight and forgive each other and show true care for each other, which is something Lily never experienced before with her parents. Rosaleen seems like a simple person on the outside, but she has complex qualities (ex. Strong but gentle, quiet but loud, and loving but stern).

The Very Beginning...

The story begins by introducing the main character, 14 year old Lily Owens. She lives in South Carolina set in 1964. She seems to be smarter than she is given credit for by her father, T. Ray, who is a very unintelligent, stubborn, and generally an ignorant person. Lily and T. Ray do not show affection for each other, which contributes greatly to their uncomfortable relationship. The thought that Lily calls her father T. Ray instead of dad leads me to think they don't have a normal relationship. Part of the reasoning lies with the death of Lily's mother Deborah when she was only 4 years old. Although Lily vaguely recalls the events, she is constantly haunted by it, and is close to positive that it was her fault. After Deborah died, a colored woman named Rosaleen begins to live part time with Lily and T. Ray, acting as a mother and housekeeper. A relationship between Rosaleen and Lily blossoms, while T. Ray keeps to his old fashioned behavior. From the first chapter, I get a sense that Lily is intelligent, free-spirited, and more of a liberal person. The reason I feel this way is because she lays in her bed while honey bees climb into her room and buzz all around her, yet she is not scared but curious and jealous of their beauty and nature. T. Ray, Lily's father, is very old fashioned. He treats her like a small child, very unaware of what she truly wants and needs. He doesn't make the effort to understand her or build an appropriate and comforting father-daughter relationship. I believe this is partly due to the death of her mother, the presence of Rosaleen, and the time period they are living in. I look forward to reading more, and getting a more in depth look at their situation. I think there will be more turbulence between Lily and her father.

Introduction

My name is Ginny Lieder and I am in Gr.12 English. The book I have chosen is called "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. The reasons for why I chose to do my ISU on this book are as follows:

• I heard the movie was very touching.
• It looked and sounded interesting, and possibly relatable.
• It is an acclaimed inspirational story with good morals.
• My friends recommended the book, even saying "Every girl has to read this!".

This is a photo of the book: