coming of age
Coming of Age Essay
Coming of age means to physically and mentally grow and become mature. In the book The Secret Life of Bees, the main character Lily goes through her experience of becoming a mature young woman. Through her journey she learns about racism, love, and strong women. In the beginning of the story Lily lives with her father T- Ray, who is abusive and doesn’t care for her. What she wants most is to find out more about her mother who died when she was very young. She runs off to Tiburon, South Carolina with her black nanny, Rosaleen, in hopes to find out more about her mother. Through her journey she learns about racism, love, and strong women.
During the time period of the book racism was still a very large problem. Lily experiences this when she goes to town with Rosaleen to register to vote. Rosaleen spits on a white man’s shoes then is beat up and sent to jail. Later the white man comes back to the jail and beats her up even more. Lily’s father picks her up while Rosaleen is sent to the hospital. This was Lily’s first extravagant racism encounter.
When Lily arrives in Tiburon, the town her mother was somehow connected to, she stays with the Boatwright sisters. They own a bee farm and lily helps out. There she meets a black boy named Zach who shows her what it is like to love and be loved back. Even though their love is practically forbidden due to racism they don’t let that change their feelings toward each other. Zach teaches Lily a lot about love.
Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters (May, August, and June) are very strong independent black women. They all have an impact on lily and help her learn about life. Lily starts to thrive under their keeping. They teach her many things about life and help her mature. While staying with them Lily receives the motherly care that she has always searched for.
At the end of the story lily finds out the truth about her mother leaving her and is mature enough to take the news and understand that it is
Coming of age means to physically and mentally grow and become mature. In the book The Secret Life of Bees, the main character Lily goes through her experience of becoming a mature young woman. Through her journey she learns about racism, love, and strong women. In the beginning of the story Lily lives with her father T- Ray, who is abusive and doesn’t care for her. What she wants most is to find out more about her mother who died when she was very young. She runs off to Tiburon, South Carolina with her black nanny, Rosaleen, in hopes to find out more about her mother. Through her journey she learns about racism, love, and strong women.
During the time period of the book racism was still a very large problem. Lily experiences this when she goes to town with Rosaleen to register to vote. Rosaleen spits on a white man’s shoes then is beat up and sent to jail. Later the white man comes back to the jail and beats her up even more. Lily’s father picks her up while Rosaleen is sent to the hospital. This was Lily’s first extravagant racism encounter.
When Lily arrives in Tiburon, the town her mother was somehow connected to, she stays with the Boatwright sisters. They own a bee farm and lily helps out. There she meets a black boy named Zach who shows her what it is like to love and be loved back. Even though their love is practically forbidden due to racism they don’t let that change their feelings toward each other. Zach teaches Lily a lot about love.
Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters (May, August, and June) are very strong independent black women. They all have an impact on lily and help her learn about life. Lily starts to thrive under their keeping. They teach her many things about life and help her mature. While staying with them Lily receives the motherly care that she has always searched for.
At the end of the story lily finds out the truth about her mother leaving her and is mature enough to take the news and understand that it is