Dialectical Journal For Secret Life Of Bees
Secret Life of Bees Book Journal
Chapter 1
Lily Owens is lying in her bed watching bees squeeze in and out of cracks in her walls. She thinks about her mother, who died when Lily was a child. She also thinks about Rosaleen, a black woman who looks after her and her father, T. Ray. When the bees begin to swarm around Lily, she wakes T. Ray to show him but when he comes, the bees are gone. He threatens to make her kneel in grits if she wakes him again. Lily decides she will catch some bees in a jar to prove she was not making up the story. She starts to think about the day her mother died. She was packing hurridly when T. Ray comes home and they start fighting. Lily there was a gun, picking it up, and an explosion.
Lily and T. Ray live on a peach farm. He doesn’t let her do average ‘kid’ stuff. Lily has to make her own crappy clothes and is not popular at school. Lily starts catching bees in the jar, even though Rosaleen tells her that she is not going to care if Lily comes crying to her about getting stung. Lily thinks about the time Rosaleen bought her a baby chick and argued with T. Ray to let …show more content…
her keep it.
T. Ray gets pissed every time Lily tries to talk about her mother, but she has managed to collect some bits information. She even found a few items in the attic that belonged to her mom, which she has buried outside.
T. Ray doesn’t like books. Lily thought she would go to beauty school until her teacher, Mrs. Henry, told her how smart she is. She lent Lily some of her books. T. Ray does not let Lily read when she is selling peaches.
Before Lily started school T. Ray said he wanted to explain what happened to her mother. When Lily tells T. Ray that she remembers the incident, he becomes angry. He tells her that she picked up the gun. She says she remembers picking up the gun, but nothing after that. T. Ray tells her that when she picked up the gun it went off and killed Deborah.
One night Lily goes outside in the orchard and lies down with her mother’s things. T. Ray catches her outside and, thinking she was with a boy, makes her kneel on grits. Rosaleen is upset the next day when she sees Lily’s battered knees. Rosaleen tells Lily that she will not be coming the following day because she is going to town. Lily begs to come with her because it’s her birthday and she wants to be out of the house. T. Ray doesn’t care about her birthday or get her any gifts. | |
The next morning Rosaleen brings Lily a birthday cake, which they eat before they go into town. Rosaleen intends to register to vote because of the Civil Rights Amendment. On the way to town, Lily suggests they rest inside her church. Brother Gerald comes into the church and asks Lily why they are there. It is clear that he is not happy Rosaleen is in his church. Rosaleen asks if they can borrow the fans they are using for the rest of their walk. When Brother Gerald says no, Lily tells him Rosaleen was only kidding, but Rosaleen takes the fans anyway. When they get into town Lily they run into some white men who taunt Rosaleen about getting registered. She tells the men she stole the fans from a church, and pours the spit from her snuff jug over the tops of the men’s shoes. The men attack Rosaleen and call the police. The police arrest Rosaleen and tell Lily that they will let T. Ray deal with her.
I feel sad for what Lily has had to grow up with, especially T. Ray. I think he should be arrested for Child abuse. I hate the fact that T. Ray hates books, I love books and he’s a jackass. Rosaleen shouldn’t be so bold, if a little groveling will keep you alive, you should do it.
Chapter 2
The men meet Rosaleen and Lily at the police station. In They smack Rosaleen in front of Lily and the officer, who shushes Lily when she screams. T. Ray comes for Lily and races home, pissed at her. Lily says that he has do something to get Rosaleen out of jail. He says no, and that he wouldn’t be surprised if one of the men killed her. When they get home T. Ray sends Lily to her room. She tells him that he does not scare her and tells him to try to hit her. T. Ray swings and misses. When Lily says that her mother would not have let T. Ray hit her, he tells her that Deborah never cared about her and that her mom was left her and came back for her stuff the day she died. Lily tells T. Ray that she hates him and he gets pissed and leaves. She decides to run away and free Rosaleen too.
On the way to the jail Brother Gerald sees Lily and gives her a ride, since they are both going to the jail. The police want Brother Gerald to press charges against Rosaleen because she stole fans from church. Lily tells Brother Gerald that Rosaleen is deaf in one ear and misheard him and that Rosaleen poured snuff juice on the men’s shoes because they were yelling at her for singing hymns. At the jail, Brother Gerald tells the officer that he cannot press charges and Lily learns that Rosaleen has been taken to the hospital for ‘falling’. | |
Lily sneaks into the hospital and manages to trick the guard into going back to the jail by pretending she is the jailer’s wife on the phone. Lily and Rosaleen escape and hitch a ride toward Tiburon from a truck driver.
That night Lily tells Rosaleen that she wants to go to Tiburon because her mother wrote the name of the town on the back of a picture of a Black Virgin Mary. Rosaleen gets upset that she didn’t run away just to save her. Lily get ticked at her and goes to the other side of the creek to fall asleep. Later that night Lily finds Rosaleen bathing in the stream and joins her apologizing.
The town’s people are very racist at this time. Lily made the right choice of running away, there was no need to put up with T. Ray making her life a living hell. Busting Rosaleen out was cool, and intuitive. I was surprised it went so smoothly. Rosaleen has a little too much pride but I understand her train of thought, as far as being hurt for not being the reason.
Chapter 3
As they make their way toward town, Rosaleen tells Lily that no one is going to let a colored woman stay in a motel. In town, Lily goes into a store to buy some lunch. When the store-owner remarks that he has never seen her, she says she is in town visiting her grandmother. She steals snuff for Rosaleen because the man cannot sell it on Sunday. While in the store Lily sees jars of honey with the picture of the Black Madonna on them. The store-owner tells her that the woman who makes the honey is named August Boatwright and lives in a bright pink house. She thinks August must have known her mother and decides to go to the pink house. After lunch Lily buys a newspaper and is glad to see that she and Rosaleen are not in it.
I personally think it would be odd to go up to someone’s house that you’ve never met before, but she is technically homeless now, so whatever works.
Chapter 4
Lily and Rosaleen are greeted by August’s sisters, June and May. When Lily meets August, she tells her that she and Rosaleen have run away from home and have nowhere to go. When August asks if Rosaleen has been beaten, Lily says that she fell down the steps while they were leaving. August tells them that they can stay until they figure out what they are going to do. When Rosaleen asks about the sisters’ names, May explains and says they used to have another sister named April, but she died. May begins singing and August tells her to go to her wall and finish her cry. Lily tells August that her parents are dead and that she and Rosaleen are going to Virginia to find Lily’s aunt. August says that Lily can help her with the bees and Rosaleen can help May with the housework until they are ready to leave. Later August shows Lily and Rosaleen where they will be sleeping and shows Lily where she will be working. That night Lily makes Rosaleen promise that she will not tell the Boatwright sisters the truth.
The next morning Lily wakes up early and walks around the property. She discovers a wall with papers stuffed in it. Lily thinks of how peaceful it is here and how she does not want that to change.
It’s really nice of August to allow them to stay. It was odd that Lily didn’t lie about running away but then lied about the reason. May is an odd character.
Chapter 5
Lily spends her time in the bee house and Rosaleen spends her time with May, who become friends right away. Rosaleen figures out that May hums “Oh! Susanna” when she is upset. Lily likes August and May, but June isn’t nice to her. One night Lily overhears June and August talking about her. June insists that Lily must leave because she is lying and white.
August tells Lily a story about a nun named Beatrix who left her convent. When she returned many years later, Beatrix learned that the convent never knew she left because Mary was standing in for her. She thinks August is telling her that it is okay that she ran away.
Lily grows closer to August and hopes that August will love her and want to keep her. August explains May’s behavior to her. May was a happy child until her twin sister, April, committed suicide. Now May is frequently emotional and writes things on pieces of paper to stick in the wailing wall. | |
Rosaleen is jealous of the time Lily is spending with August. Lily tells Rosaleen that she is hoping that August will know something about her mother. Lily asks Rosaleen if she thinks it is possible that T. Ray was telling the truth when he said her mom left her. Rosaleen says she doesn’t know. That night, Lily goes to May’s wall and places a paper inside it that reads “Deborah Owens.”
August is becoming sort of a mom for Lily. Rosaleen is too jealous, and needs to realize that the life she has now is much better thanthe one she would have lost, had she stayed. May’s emotions are odd
Chapter 6
Lily meets Neil and he and June are ‘sweet on each other’. However, June will not marry him because she was left at the alter before. As May tells the story, she becomes upset and starts humming. Rosaleen and Lily encourage her to go to her wall. When June and Neil come into the room, June asks what set May off. June is embarrassed when Rosaleen tells her that May is upset because she won’t marry Neil. Neil finds this funny. When Neil starts asking Lily about what they’re doing here she gets uncomfortable and leaves. | |
On Sunday the Daughters of Mary for a little religious service. They pray the rosary and recount the story of ‘Our Lady of Chains’. Finally, June plays music as the Daughters touch Mary’s red heart. However when it is Lily’s turn, June stops playing right in the middle of the song and Lily faints. She wakes up in August’s bed and August and Rosaleen go overboard with trying to take care of her.
That night, Walter Cronkite announces on television that the United States will be sending a man to the moon. August is upset because she thinks the moon will never be the same once man has walked on her. Lily thinks about how she will touch the black Mary’s heart one day and then tell August the truth.
Neil is funny and I think if June married him, she’d be a happier person. The Daughters of Mary are fascinating. June was cruel to stop the song.
Chapter 7
When Lily first sees Zach, he is singing “Viva Las Vegas” and doesn’t notice her. Zach is surprised that Lily is white because August did not mention it to him. Lily thinks he’s hot.
Lily doesn’t like dinner because she has to talk to June. One night after they say their ‘Hail Mary’s, August tells Lily that she is welcome to touch the heart, but she declines.
One day Zach and Lily talk about what subjects they like in school and what they would like to do with their futures. Lily tells Zach that she wanted to be a writer and an English teacher but because she is an orphan now, she does not think she has much of a future. Zach argues that he has it tougher because he is black. He wants to be a lawyer.
One day June mentions to Lily that she has been there for two weeks. Lily says that she will write to her aunt for bus money. June remarks that Lily must have suddenly remembered her aunt’s last name and address. August enters and ends the conversation by saying that no one wants Lily to leave until she is ready. August tells Lily that she can talk to her.
Another day, August sends Lily and Zach out together. Lily imagines that she and Zach get stuck in a blizzard and have to intertwine their bodies in order to stay warm. During the drive, Zach tells Lily about a lawyer who sells August’s honey and candles in his office and talks to Zach about his cases. As he is talking, Zach hits a rut, which causes him and Lily to hit their heads on the ceiling of the car. Lily laughs uncontrollably. Zach becomes nervous when she cannot stop laughing. When Lily regains control, she and Zach begin talking about a local writer. Zach teases Lily about wanting to be a writer and she starts crying. Lily realizes that she is crying because of the way she feels for Zach. Zach hugs Lily and tells her that she will be a fine writer one day. | |
When she returns to the honey house, Lily learns that Rosaleen is moving into May’s room and gets upset. June and Neil get into a screaming match. June tells Neil that if he leaves, he should never come back. Neil drives away. May cries, and goes to the wall. At night, alone in the honey house, Lily fantasizes about Zach visiting her. Soon after, Zach surprises Lily with a notebook to write in.
The little romance with Zach is cute. June is still mean, and should let Neil in. Lily is being just a little pett when Rosaleen moves in with May.
Chapter 8
Lily tells August that she never pictured the Madonna as black. August tells Lily that she first saw the Black Madonna of Breznichar in Bohemia on her mother’s religious trading cards. When August went away to school, she read everything she could about the Black Madonna. Lily tells August that she loves the picture of the Black Madonna and August asks her what else she loves. August tells Lily the story of the Madonna statue.
August tells Lily about how her parents met.
August couldn’t get a job teaching so she became a housekeeper. Nine years later she found a job teaching history, which she kept until she moved to Tiburon. June would not keep house for white people, so she did hair at a funeral home. Lily asks if August was ever in love. August says she was, but she did not get married because she loved her freedom more than she loved the man. As they are doing bee patrol, Lily asks August why she painted her house pink. August says that May loved it. August shows her the bees when they’re cooling the hives. Lily asks what other secrets the bees have. August explains what the bees do in the hives. As bees swarm around Lily, August tells her to send them love and they will not bother her. Lily becomes lost in the bees and in her thoughts. August tells Lily they are due for a long
talk.
Later that day, Rosaleen and May cook a special lunch because May has not been to the wall in five days. During lunch Zach tells everyone that he heard that Jack Palance, an actor, is coming to Tiburon with an African-American woman and plans to sit in the white section at the movie theater. Zach says that white men are planning to go to the movie theater. After lunch, Lily goes with Zach to Clayton Forrest’s law office to leave honey to sell. | |
At the office, Mr. Forrest’s secretary expresses her surprise that Lily is staying with August. When Mr. Forrest and Zach go into Mr. Forrest’s office, Lily begins to think of T. Ray and calls him. She asks him if he knows what her favorite color. He yells at her and she hangs up. When Zach and Mr. Forrest return, Lily tells them that she is having female trouble in order to avoid answering Mr. Forrest’s questions about why she is in town.
Later, in the honey house, Lily writes a letter to T. Ray expressing her anger. She tears the letter to pieces when she is finished.
That night, Lily goes into the house to use the bathroom. She stops in front of the Mary statue and asks her for help. She touches the heart.
August has a boring past. The bees social structure and intelligence is fascinating. T. Ray is still a jackass, all she asked was her favorite color and all he can think about is her being in trouble.
Chapter 9
Tiburon is in the midst of a heat wave. Lily and August take sugar water to the hives to save the bees. Later, after lunch, Lily and August see May and Rosaleen running through the sprinkler and join them. Soon June comes out and Lily gets her wet. Lily and June fight over the sprinkler until they collapse in laughter. thinks of her mother and of the lies she has been telling everyone. She goes inside and finds May on the kitchen floor with a box of graham crackers. As she drinks a glass of juice she sees that May has made a trail of graham cracker crumbs. May tells Lily she made the trail so the roaches will follow it out of the house. She asks May of she ever knew Deborah Fontanel. May says that Deborah stayed in the honey house and was the sweetest thing. May begins singing again and goes to the wall. Lily takes a nap, thinking of how her mother was once in the very same place. | |
A few days later, Lily finally works up the courage to tell August the truth. Lily meets Zach on the way to see August and he asks her to take a ride with him. She says she has to talk to August, but Zach tells her that August is with Sugar-Girl. They go to the auto-parts store, which is two doors down from the movie theater. Lily realizes this is the day that Jack Palance is supposed to come to town.
There is a group of white men waiting by the ticket booth. Suddenly a white man yells at a black boy across the street. Lily sees one of the boys throw a bottle. When she opens her eyes, she sees one of the white men holding his bleeding nose. The police come and take all of the boys away because none will admit who threw the bottle. After sitting in the car for a while, Lily decides to walk back to the house. Clayton tells them that they cannot do anything to get Zach out of jail for at least five days because the judge is out of town.
Lily and August visit Zach in jail. Lily does not know what to say to him, so she tells Zach that she will write about everything that happened to him in a story.
They decide not to tell May what happened because they do not want to upset her, but one night she answers a phone call from Zach’s mother and learns that he is in jail. May refuses to speak. Rosaleen gets a cold towel and places it on May’s forehead. Finally, May says that she is OK and goes to the wall.
I like that June is finally being nice. I had begun to suspect that her mother had been there before and that’s why August was being so nice. It’s unfortunate that August is busy, but nice that she gets some more time with Zach. It sucks that Zach is in jail, but it’s expected in a racist area. I have a bad feeling about May.
Chapter 10
Twenty minutes after May leaves, August decides they should go after her. Lily starts praying the Hail Mary. June calls the police. Suddenly, August finds May in the river. August runs into the water and Lily rushes after her. May is lying, dead, in two feet of water. She has a rock on her chest, holding her to the bottom of the river. June, August and Lily pull May from the river.
The police come and ask questions about May’s death. One of the officers asks Lily about why she is there. As the officer is leaving, he asks Lily to come to the door. He tells her that she is lowering herself by living with these women and that he will come back soon to make sure she has left.
After May’s suicide is declared official and her body has been fixed up at the funeral parlor, she is sent back to the pink house. They do a vigil.
Zach returns during May’s vigil. The girl who sells tickets at the theater told the police which of the boys threw the bottle, so Zach was let out of jail. Zach apologizes for what happened because he heard that it was his mother’s phone call that pushed May over the edge. August tells him that it is not his fault. | |
Lily, August and Zach drape the hives in black cloth. August tells her that this is a very old beekeeper tradition. The hives get covered so bees do not swarm off because the bees ensure that the dead person will live again. August tells Lily that she does not believe that the bees will help May get to heaven, but the black cloths remind the living that death gives way to life.
The Daughters of Mary come over with food and sit with May. As they are sitting in the parlor talking, Sugar-Girl makes a joke about white people. As everyone laughs at the joke, Lily is glad that no one tells Sugar-Girl to remember that there is a white person present.
August finds May’s suicide note. In the note May tells August and June that it was her time to die, but it is their time to live. August says that June should marry Neil. August takes the cloths off the bee hives and May is buried.
May’s death is very sad, especially when the air escapes her chest. Zach is beating himself up too much, but I’d probably beat myself up more. I agree that June should marry Neil.
Chapter 11
Rosaleen cooks a big dinner and everyone eats together. For dessert August gives everyone a bottle of Coke and peanuts. August wedges May’s suicide letter in a crevice on the statue’s neck.
Lily, who has been staying in May’s room with Rosaleen, decides to move back into the honey house because she misses having her own room. She worries what will happen when she tells August the truth about why she is there.
Lily wakes the next morning to find August, June and Rosaleen singing in the kitchen and covered with flour. They are baking small cakes for Mary Day. Neil comes in and tells June that he wants to ask her to marry him, for the hundredth time. June agrees and everyone is thrilled. Neil insists they go to the jewelry store that minute to pick out a ring before she changes her mind. | |
They prepare for Mary Day. The Daughters arrive and everyone eats. After dinner, they reenact the story of ‘Our Lady of Chains’. During part of the ceremony in which August talks about the importance of remembering, Lily walks outside because she does not want to remember. Zach follows her. Lily makes him promise that he will not let the world make him mean. He promises and kisses her. Zach tells her how hard he is going to study so he can be a lawyer and make changes. He tells her that he wants her to know how much he cares for her. He says that even though they cannot be together now, someday he will find her and they will be together then. He gives her his dog-tag so she will not forget.
Mary Day is weird! Neil is too patient but it did pay off and that’s sweet. Zach is pretty romantic.
Chapter 12
Lily waits to speak with August in August’s bedroom. When August enters, Lily shows her the picture of her mother and tells August who she is. August already knew and explains why. Lily tells August that she killed her mother accidentally with a gun. August tells her that she is the dearest and most lovable girl she knows. August explains that it took June a while to warm to Lily because she resented Deborah. August and Lily take some ice water out to the back porch to continue their conversation. August asks Lily how she ever figured out to come to her house. Lily shows her the picture of the Back Madonna. August tells Lily all about how she came to know Deborah and what Deborah was like as a child. Deborah refused T. Ray’s first marriage proposal, but then decided to marry him when she found out that she was pregnant with Lily. August says that Deborah was happy for a little while but she got depressed and came to stay with August. When Deborah finally recovered she went back to the farm to get Lily. She even talked to Clayton about filing divorce papers. When Deborah did not return, August called Lily’s house and a neighbor told her what happened. August takes Lily to the honey house and makes sure she goes to bed.
.This is very emotional, and must be hard for Lily to hear all this. I feel sorry for Deborah.
Chapter 13
After August leaves, Lily cries and in a fit of rage, begins throwing jars of honey. Lily is shaken awake by Rosaleen the next morning. Rosaleen fixes up Lily’s cuts and asks what drove her to such anger. Lily explains. Rosaleen had some idea that Deborah had left because she overheard T. Ray talking to their neighbor on the phone. Lily asks why Rosaleen did not tell her this sooner. Rosaleen says she did not want to hurt her. Rosaleen helps Lily clean the honey house.
As the Daughters arrive, Lily asks August to tell Zach the truth about why she is there. Lily cannot bear to do it herself. The Daughters continue the Mary ceremony as June plays the cello. The women rub honey all over the statue.
Later that afternoon August brings Lily a box of her mother’s things, which includes a hair brush, a pin, and a book of poetry among other items. Lily’s favorite memento is a picture of her mother feeding her when she was a baby. Lily believes this is the sign she asked for that she was loved.
I think the temper-tantrum was overdone. I’ve never been one for them, just screaming. Zach probably feels blown-off, and a little unsure after his declaration the night before.
Chapter 14
Lily spends a lot of time alone after August’s gives her Deborah’s things. She thinks about how hard it is to forgive. August tells Lily to grieve for a while.
June begins planning her wedding, which will take place in October. One day Lily overhears June and August talking about how much May would have loved the wedding.
When Lily feels like eating again she goes to the kitchen where she meets Rosaleen. Rosaleen is wearing a new dress and tells Lily that she is going to register to vote. August asks Lily to come, but she decides to stay home. After the women leave, Lily wishes she went with them. She wants to tell Rosaleen that she is proud of her.
Zach visits Lily and asks if she will have to go back with her father. Lily says she thinks she will. Zach says he will visit her. Lily thinks how Zach could never knock on T. Ray’s door. Zach tells Lily that he is going to an all-white high school the next year. Lily asks if he is sure he wants to do that and Zach says that someone has to do it.
The next day Lily wears her mother’s whale pin. She is feeling better. August tells her that a hive is missing a queen and that someone is coming over with a new queen. August shows Lily the queenless colony. Without a queen, the bees lose their morale and eventually die. August reminds Lily of the story she told her about Beatrix. Lily says she figured August was telling her to go back to T. Ray. August says she was actually suggesting that Our Lady could be a stand-in mother for Deborah. August tells Lily that Our Lady is located inside Lily’s heart. She is always with her.
Later that afternoon, Lily is home alone when she hears a knock at the door. When she answers the door, she is startled to find T. Ray. He comments that the statue of Our Lady looks like something from a junkyard. He tells Lily that found her because of the collect phone call she made. Clayton’s office showed up on T. Ray’s phone bill. He went to the office and the secretary told him where Lily was staying. T. Ray notices Lily’s pin and asks where she got it. Lily explains that Deborah stayed in the pink house and that August gave her the pin.
T. Ray goes into a rage and hits Lily. He is confused and calls her Deborah. He repeatedly asks why she left him. Lily shouts at him, telling him who she is. Finally she calls him “Daddy” and he snaps out of his trance. August and Rosaleen return; Lily motions for them to be quiet. T. Ray demands that Lily come home with him. She says she will not leave. August and Rosaleen step in. August tells T. Ray that Lily has a home with her as long as she likes. T. Ray continues to demand that Lily come with him. The Daughters come into the house. August tells T. Ray that he would be doing her a favor if he let Lily stay. She tells him that Lily has become her apprentice bee keeper and that they love her. T. Ray finally agrees, saying “good riddance.” T. Ray gets into his truck and starts to drive away. Lily chases him and he stops. She tells him that she needs to know if she killed her mother. T. Ray tells her that she did not mean to do it, but, yes, she killed Deborah. He drives away
Lily moves into June’s room after June’s wedding. August and the Daughters made the room into something Lily could never have imagined because it is so beautiful. Clayton works on the charges against Lily and Rosaleen and believes they will be dropped by Thanksgiving. Lily becomes friends with Clayton’s daughter, Becca. She and Becca go to the same school as Zach and sit with him whenever they can at lunch. The other kids tease them, but Lily and Becca do not care. Lily has forgiven herself and her mother. She sits in her new room and writes everything down. Lily keeps up May’s wall--she gives it fresh prayers and fresh rocks. Lily visits the black Mary every day and feels that she has more mothers than anyone else.
I like, and don’t like this ending. I feel like it should be explained more but at the same time, it’s a nice after-story to it. T. Ray is sill, go figure, an asshole. I’m glad he just let her go. I like how Lily Is loyal to Zach in this time period. It’s very nice. The book was nice, I don’t tend to like reality-based books.
Chapter 1
Lily Owens is lying in her bed watching bees squeeze in and out of cracks in her walls. She thinks about her mother, who died when Lily was a child. She also thinks about Rosaleen, a black woman who looks after her and her father, T. Ray. When the bees begin to swarm around Lily, she wakes T. Ray to show him but when he comes, the bees are gone. He threatens to make her kneel in grits if she wakes him again. Lily decides she will catch some bees in a jar to prove she was not making up the story. She starts to think about the day her mother died. She was packing hurridly when T. Ray comes home and they start fighting. Lily there was a gun, picking it up, and an explosion.
Lily and T. Ray live on a peach farm. He doesn’t let her do average ‘kid’ stuff. Lily has to make her own crappy clothes and is not popular at school. Lily starts catching bees in the jar, even though Rosaleen tells her that she is not going to care if Lily comes crying to her about getting stung. Lily thinks about the time Rosaleen bought her a baby chick and argued with T. Ray to let …show more content…
her keep it.
T. Ray gets pissed every time Lily tries to talk about her mother, but she has managed to collect some bits information. She even found a few items in the attic that belonged to her mom, which she has buried outside.
T. Ray doesn’t like books. Lily thought she would go to beauty school until her teacher, Mrs. Henry, told her how smart she is. She lent Lily some of her books. T. Ray does not let Lily read when she is selling peaches.
Before Lily started school T. Ray said he wanted to explain what happened to her mother. When Lily tells T. Ray that she remembers the incident, he becomes angry. He tells her that she picked up the gun. She says she remembers picking up the gun, but nothing after that. T. Ray tells her that when she picked up the gun it went off and killed Deborah.
One night Lily goes outside in the orchard and lies down with her mother’s things. T. Ray catches her outside and, thinking she was with a boy, makes her kneel on grits. Rosaleen is upset the next day when she sees Lily’s battered knees. Rosaleen tells Lily that she will not be coming the following day because she is going to town. Lily begs to come with her because it’s her birthday and she wants to be out of the house. T. Ray doesn’t care about her birthday or get her any gifts. | |
The next morning Rosaleen brings Lily a birthday cake, which they eat before they go into town. Rosaleen intends to register to vote because of the Civil Rights Amendment. On the way to town, Lily suggests they rest inside her church. Brother Gerald comes into the church and asks Lily why they are there. It is clear that he is not happy Rosaleen is in his church. Rosaleen asks if they can borrow the fans they are using for the rest of their walk. When Brother Gerald says no, Lily tells him Rosaleen was only kidding, but Rosaleen takes the fans anyway. When they get into town Lily they run into some white men who taunt Rosaleen about getting registered. She tells the men she stole the fans from a church, and pours the spit from her snuff jug over the tops of the men’s shoes. The men attack Rosaleen and call the police. The police arrest Rosaleen and tell Lily that they will let T. Ray deal with her.
I feel sad for what Lily has had to grow up with, especially T. Ray. I think he should be arrested for Child abuse. I hate the fact that T. Ray hates books, I love books and he’s a jackass. Rosaleen shouldn’t be so bold, if a little groveling will keep you alive, you should do it.
Chapter 2
The men meet Rosaleen and Lily at the police station. In They smack Rosaleen in front of Lily and the officer, who shushes Lily when she screams. T. Ray comes for Lily and races home, pissed at her. Lily says that he has do something to get Rosaleen out of jail. He says no, and that he wouldn’t be surprised if one of the men killed her. When they get home T. Ray sends Lily to her room. She tells him that he does not scare her and tells him to try to hit her. T. Ray swings and misses. When Lily says that her mother would not have let T. Ray hit her, he tells her that Deborah never cared about her and that her mom was left her and came back for her stuff the day she died. Lily tells T. Ray that she hates him and he gets pissed and leaves. She decides to run away and free Rosaleen too.
On the way to the jail Brother Gerald sees Lily and gives her a ride, since they are both going to the jail. The police want Brother Gerald to press charges against Rosaleen because she stole fans from church. Lily tells Brother Gerald that Rosaleen is deaf in one ear and misheard him and that Rosaleen poured snuff juice on the men’s shoes because they were yelling at her for singing hymns. At the jail, Brother Gerald tells the officer that he cannot press charges and Lily learns that Rosaleen has been taken to the hospital for ‘falling’. | |
Lily sneaks into the hospital and manages to trick the guard into going back to the jail by pretending she is the jailer’s wife on the phone. Lily and Rosaleen escape and hitch a ride toward Tiburon from a truck driver.
That night Lily tells Rosaleen that she wants to go to Tiburon because her mother wrote the name of the town on the back of a picture of a Black Virgin Mary. Rosaleen gets upset that she didn’t run away just to save her. Lily get ticked at her and goes to the other side of the creek to fall asleep. Later that night Lily finds Rosaleen bathing in the stream and joins her apologizing.
The town’s people are very racist at this time. Lily made the right choice of running away, there was no need to put up with T. Ray making her life a living hell. Busting Rosaleen out was cool, and intuitive. I was surprised it went so smoothly. Rosaleen has a little too much pride but I understand her train of thought, as far as being hurt for not being the reason.
Chapter 3
As they make their way toward town, Rosaleen tells Lily that no one is going to let a colored woman stay in a motel. In town, Lily goes into a store to buy some lunch. When the store-owner remarks that he has never seen her, she says she is in town visiting her grandmother. She steals snuff for Rosaleen because the man cannot sell it on Sunday. While in the store Lily sees jars of honey with the picture of the Black Madonna on them. The store-owner tells her that the woman who makes the honey is named August Boatwright and lives in a bright pink house. She thinks August must have known her mother and decides to go to the pink house. After lunch Lily buys a newspaper and is glad to see that she and Rosaleen are not in it.
I personally think it would be odd to go up to someone’s house that you’ve never met before, but she is technically homeless now, so whatever works.
Chapter 4
Lily and Rosaleen are greeted by August’s sisters, June and May. When Lily meets August, she tells her that she and Rosaleen have run away from home and have nowhere to go. When August asks if Rosaleen has been beaten, Lily says that she fell down the steps while they were leaving. August tells them that they can stay until they figure out what they are going to do. When Rosaleen asks about the sisters’ names, May explains and says they used to have another sister named April, but she died. May begins singing and August tells her to go to her wall and finish her cry. Lily tells August that her parents are dead and that she and Rosaleen are going to Virginia to find Lily’s aunt. August says that Lily can help her with the bees and Rosaleen can help May with the housework until they are ready to leave. Later August shows Lily and Rosaleen where they will be sleeping and shows Lily where she will be working. That night Lily makes Rosaleen promise that she will not tell the Boatwright sisters the truth.
The next morning Lily wakes up early and walks around the property. She discovers a wall with papers stuffed in it. Lily thinks of how peaceful it is here and how she does not want that to change.
It’s really nice of August to allow them to stay. It was odd that Lily didn’t lie about running away but then lied about the reason. May is an odd character.
Chapter 5
Lily spends her time in the bee house and Rosaleen spends her time with May, who become friends right away. Rosaleen figures out that May hums “Oh! Susanna” when she is upset. Lily likes August and May, but June isn’t nice to her. One night Lily overhears June and August talking about her. June insists that Lily must leave because she is lying and white.
August tells Lily a story about a nun named Beatrix who left her convent. When she returned many years later, Beatrix learned that the convent never knew she left because Mary was standing in for her. She thinks August is telling her that it is okay that she ran away.
Lily grows closer to August and hopes that August will love her and want to keep her. August explains May’s behavior to her. May was a happy child until her twin sister, April, committed suicide. Now May is frequently emotional and writes things on pieces of paper to stick in the wailing wall. | |
Rosaleen is jealous of the time Lily is spending with August. Lily tells Rosaleen that she is hoping that August will know something about her mother. Lily asks Rosaleen if she thinks it is possible that T. Ray was telling the truth when he said her mom left her. Rosaleen says she doesn’t know. That night, Lily goes to May’s wall and places a paper inside it that reads “Deborah Owens.”
August is becoming sort of a mom for Lily. Rosaleen is too jealous, and needs to realize that the life she has now is much better thanthe one she would have lost, had she stayed. May’s emotions are odd
Chapter 6
Lily meets Neil and he and June are ‘sweet on each other’. However, June will not marry him because she was left at the alter before. As May tells the story, she becomes upset and starts humming. Rosaleen and Lily encourage her to go to her wall. When June and Neil come into the room, June asks what set May off. June is embarrassed when Rosaleen tells her that May is upset because she won’t marry Neil. Neil finds this funny. When Neil starts asking Lily about what they’re doing here she gets uncomfortable and leaves. | |
On Sunday the Daughters of Mary for a little religious service. They pray the rosary and recount the story of ‘Our Lady of Chains’. Finally, June plays music as the Daughters touch Mary’s red heart. However when it is Lily’s turn, June stops playing right in the middle of the song and Lily faints. She wakes up in August’s bed and August and Rosaleen go overboard with trying to take care of her.
That night, Walter Cronkite announces on television that the United States will be sending a man to the moon. August is upset because she thinks the moon will never be the same once man has walked on her. Lily thinks about how she will touch the black Mary’s heart one day and then tell August the truth.
Neil is funny and I think if June married him, she’d be a happier person. The Daughters of Mary are fascinating. June was cruel to stop the song.
Chapter 7
When Lily first sees Zach, he is singing “Viva Las Vegas” and doesn’t notice her. Zach is surprised that Lily is white because August did not mention it to him. Lily thinks he’s hot.
Lily doesn’t like dinner because she has to talk to June. One night after they say their ‘Hail Mary’s, August tells Lily that she is welcome to touch the heart, but she declines.
One day Zach and Lily talk about what subjects they like in school and what they would like to do with their futures. Lily tells Zach that she wanted to be a writer and an English teacher but because she is an orphan now, she does not think she has much of a future. Zach argues that he has it tougher because he is black. He wants to be a lawyer.
One day June mentions to Lily that she has been there for two weeks. Lily says that she will write to her aunt for bus money. June remarks that Lily must have suddenly remembered her aunt’s last name and address. August enters and ends the conversation by saying that no one wants Lily to leave until she is ready. August tells Lily that she can talk to her.
Another day, August sends Lily and Zach out together. Lily imagines that she and Zach get stuck in a blizzard and have to intertwine their bodies in order to stay warm. During the drive, Zach tells Lily about a lawyer who sells August’s honey and candles in his office and talks to Zach about his cases. As he is talking, Zach hits a rut, which causes him and Lily to hit their heads on the ceiling of the car. Lily laughs uncontrollably. Zach becomes nervous when she cannot stop laughing. When Lily regains control, she and Zach begin talking about a local writer. Zach teases Lily about wanting to be a writer and she starts crying. Lily realizes that she is crying because of the way she feels for Zach. Zach hugs Lily and tells her that she will be a fine writer one day. | |
When she returns to the honey house, Lily learns that Rosaleen is moving into May’s room and gets upset. June and Neil get into a screaming match. June tells Neil that if he leaves, he should never come back. Neil drives away. May cries, and goes to the wall. At night, alone in the honey house, Lily fantasizes about Zach visiting her. Soon after, Zach surprises Lily with a notebook to write in.
The little romance with Zach is cute. June is still mean, and should let Neil in. Lily is being just a little pett when Rosaleen moves in with May.
Chapter 8
Lily tells August that she never pictured the Madonna as black. August tells Lily that she first saw the Black Madonna of Breznichar in Bohemia on her mother’s religious trading cards. When August went away to school, she read everything she could about the Black Madonna. Lily tells August that she loves the picture of the Black Madonna and August asks her what else she loves. August tells Lily the story of the Madonna statue.
August tells Lily about how her parents met.
August couldn’t get a job teaching so she became a housekeeper. Nine years later she found a job teaching history, which she kept until she moved to Tiburon. June would not keep house for white people, so she did hair at a funeral home. Lily asks if August was ever in love. August says she was, but she did not get married because she loved her freedom more than she loved the man. As they are doing bee patrol, Lily asks August why she painted her house pink. August says that May loved it. August shows her the bees when they’re cooling the hives. Lily asks what other secrets the bees have. August explains what the bees do in the hives. As bees swarm around Lily, August tells her to send them love and they will not bother her. Lily becomes lost in the bees and in her thoughts. August tells Lily they are due for a long
talk.
Later that day, Rosaleen and May cook a special lunch because May has not been to the wall in five days. During lunch Zach tells everyone that he heard that Jack Palance, an actor, is coming to Tiburon with an African-American woman and plans to sit in the white section at the movie theater. Zach says that white men are planning to go to the movie theater. After lunch, Lily goes with Zach to Clayton Forrest’s law office to leave honey to sell. | |
At the office, Mr. Forrest’s secretary expresses her surprise that Lily is staying with August. When Mr. Forrest and Zach go into Mr. Forrest’s office, Lily begins to think of T. Ray and calls him. She asks him if he knows what her favorite color. He yells at her and she hangs up. When Zach and Mr. Forrest return, Lily tells them that she is having female trouble in order to avoid answering Mr. Forrest’s questions about why she is in town.
Later, in the honey house, Lily writes a letter to T. Ray expressing her anger. She tears the letter to pieces when she is finished.
That night, Lily goes into the house to use the bathroom. She stops in front of the Mary statue and asks her for help. She touches the heart.
August has a boring past. The bees social structure and intelligence is fascinating. T. Ray is still a jackass, all she asked was her favorite color and all he can think about is her being in trouble.
Chapter 9
Tiburon is in the midst of a heat wave. Lily and August take sugar water to the hives to save the bees. Later, after lunch, Lily and August see May and Rosaleen running through the sprinkler and join them. Soon June comes out and Lily gets her wet. Lily and June fight over the sprinkler until they collapse in laughter. thinks of her mother and of the lies she has been telling everyone. She goes inside and finds May on the kitchen floor with a box of graham crackers. As she drinks a glass of juice she sees that May has made a trail of graham cracker crumbs. May tells Lily she made the trail so the roaches will follow it out of the house. She asks May of she ever knew Deborah Fontanel. May says that Deborah stayed in the honey house and was the sweetest thing. May begins singing again and goes to the wall. Lily takes a nap, thinking of how her mother was once in the very same place. | |
A few days later, Lily finally works up the courage to tell August the truth. Lily meets Zach on the way to see August and he asks her to take a ride with him. She says she has to talk to August, but Zach tells her that August is with Sugar-Girl. They go to the auto-parts store, which is two doors down from the movie theater. Lily realizes this is the day that Jack Palance is supposed to come to town.
There is a group of white men waiting by the ticket booth. Suddenly a white man yells at a black boy across the street. Lily sees one of the boys throw a bottle. When she opens her eyes, she sees one of the white men holding his bleeding nose. The police come and take all of the boys away because none will admit who threw the bottle. After sitting in the car for a while, Lily decides to walk back to the house. Clayton tells them that they cannot do anything to get Zach out of jail for at least five days because the judge is out of town.
Lily and August visit Zach in jail. Lily does not know what to say to him, so she tells Zach that she will write about everything that happened to him in a story.
They decide not to tell May what happened because they do not want to upset her, but one night she answers a phone call from Zach’s mother and learns that he is in jail. May refuses to speak. Rosaleen gets a cold towel and places it on May’s forehead. Finally, May says that she is OK and goes to the wall.
I like that June is finally being nice. I had begun to suspect that her mother had been there before and that’s why August was being so nice. It’s unfortunate that August is busy, but nice that she gets some more time with Zach. It sucks that Zach is in jail, but it’s expected in a racist area. I have a bad feeling about May.
Chapter 10
Twenty minutes after May leaves, August decides they should go after her. Lily starts praying the Hail Mary. June calls the police. Suddenly, August finds May in the river. August runs into the water and Lily rushes after her. May is lying, dead, in two feet of water. She has a rock on her chest, holding her to the bottom of the river. June, August and Lily pull May from the river.
The police come and ask questions about May’s death. One of the officers asks Lily about why she is there. As the officer is leaving, he asks Lily to come to the door. He tells her that she is lowering herself by living with these women and that he will come back soon to make sure she has left.
After May’s suicide is declared official and her body has been fixed up at the funeral parlor, she is sent back to the pink house. They do a vigil.
Zach returns during May’s vigil. The girl who sells tickets at the theater told the police which of the boys threw the bottle, so Zach was let out of jail. Zach apologizes for what happened because he heard that it was his mother’s phone call that pushed May over the edge. August tells him that it is not his fault. | |
Lily, August and Zach drape the hives in black cloth. August tells her that this is a very old beekeeper tradition. The hives get covered so bees do not swarm off because the bees ensure that the dead person will live again. August tells Lily that she does not believe that the bees will help May get to heaven, but the black cloths remind the living that death gives way to life.
The Daughters of Mary come over with food and sit with May. As they are sitting in the parlor talking, Sugar-Girl makes a joke about white people. As everyone laughs at the joke, Lily is glad that no one tells Sugar-Girl to remember that there is a white person present.
August finds May’s suicide note. In the note May tells August and June that it was her time to die, but it is their time to live. August says that June should marry Neil. August takes the cloths off the bee hives and May is buried.
May’s death is very sad, especially when the air escapes her chest. Zach is beating himself up too much, but I’d probably beat myself up more. I agree that June should marry Neil.
Chapter 11
Rosaleen cooks a big dinner and everyone eats together. For dessert August gives everyone a bottle of Coke and peanuts. August wedges May’s suicide letter in a crevice on the statue’s neck.
Lily, who has been staying in May’s room with Rosaleen, decides to move back into the honey house because she misses having her own room. She worries what will happen when she tells August the truth about why she is there.
Lily wakes the next morning to find August, June and Rosaleen singing in the kitchen and covered with flour. They are baking small cakes for Mary Day. Neil comes in and tells June that he wants to ask her to marry him, for the hundredth time. June agrees and everyone is thrilled. Neil insists they go to the jewelry store that minute to pick out a ring before she changes her mind. | |
They prepare for Mary Day. The Daughters arrive and everyone eats. After dinner, they reenact the story of ‘Our Lady of Chains’. During part of the ceremony in which August talks about the importance of remembering, Lily walks outside because she does not want to remember. Zach follows her. Lily makes him promise that he will not let the world make him mean. He promises and kisses her. Zach tells her how hard he is going to study so he can be a lawyer and make changes. He tells her that he wants her to know how much he cares for her. He says that even though they cannot be together now, someday he will find her and they will be together then. He gives her his dog-tag so she will not forget.
Mary Day is weird! Neil is too patient but it did pay off and that’s sweet. Zach is pretty romantic.
Chapter 12
Lily waits to speak with August in August’s bedroom. When August enters, Lily shows her the picture of her mother and tells August who she is. August already knew and explains why. Lily tells August that she killed her mother accidentally with a gun. August tells her that she is the dearest and most lovable girl she knows. August explains that it took June a while to warm to Lily because she resented Deborah. August and Lily take some ice water out to the back porch to continue their conversation. August asks Lily how she ever figured out to come to her house. Lily shows her the picture of the Back Madonna. August tells Lily all about how she came to know Deborah and what Deborah was like as a child. Deborah refused T. Ray’s first marriage proposal, but then decided to marry him when she found out that she was pregnant with Lily. August says that Deborah was happy for a little while but she got depressed and came to stay with August. When Deborah finally recovered she went back to the farm to get Lily. She even talked to Clayton about filing divorce papers. When Deborah did not return, August called Lily’s house and a neighbor told her what happened. August takes Lily to the honey house and makes sure she goes to bed.
.This is very emotional, and must be hard for Lily to hear all this. I feel sorry for Deborah.
Chapter 13
After August leaves, Lily cries and in a fit of rage, begins throwing jars of honey. Lily is shaken awake by Rosaleen the next morning. Rosaleen fixes up Lily’s cuts and asks what drove her to such anger. Lily explains. Rosaleen had some idea that Deborah had left because she overheard T. Ray talking to their neighbor on the phone. Lily asks why Rosaleen did not tell her this sooner. Rosaleen says she did not want to hurt her. Rosaleen helps Lily clean the honey house.
As the Daughters arrive, Lily asks August to tell Zach the truth about why she is there. Lily cannot bear to do it herself. The Daughters continue the Mary ceremony as June plays the cello. The women rub honey all over the statue.
Later that afternoon August brings Lily a box of her mother’s things, which includes a hair brush, a pin, and a book of poetry among other items. Lily’s favorite memento is a picture of her mother feeding her when she was a baby. Lily believes this is the sign she asked for that she was loved.
I think the temper-tantrum was overdone. I’ve never been one for them, just screaming. Zach probably feels blown-off, and a little unsure after his declaration the night before.
Chapter 14
Lily spends a lot of time alone after August’s gives her Deborah’s things. She thinks about how hard it is to forgive. August tells Lily to grieve for a while.
June begins planning her wedding, which will take place in October. One day Lily overhears June and August talking about how much May would have loved the wedding.
When Lily feels like eating again she goes to the kitchen where she meets Rosaleen. Rosaleen is wearing a new dress and tells Lily that she is going to register to vote. August asks Lily to come, but she decides to stay home. After the women leave, Lily wishes she went with them. She wants to tell Rosaleen that she is proud of her.
Zach visits Lily and asks if she will have to go back with her father. Lily says she thinks she will. Zach says he will visit her. Lily thinks how Zach could never knock on T. Ray’s door. Zach tells Lily that he is going to an all-white high school the next year. Lily asks if he is sure he wants to do that and Zach says that someone has to do it.
The next day Lily wears her mother’s whale pin. She is feeling better. August tells her that a hive is missing a queen and that someone is coming over with a new queen. August shows Lily the queenless colony. Without a queen, the bees lose their morale and eventually die. August reminds Lily of the story she told her about Beatrix. Lily says she figured August was telling her to go back to T. Ray. August says she was actually suggesting that Our Lady could be a stand-in mother for Deborah. August tells Lily that Our Lady is located inside Lily’s heart. She is always with her.
Later that afternoon, Lily is home alone when she hears a knock at the door. When she answers the door, she is startled to find T. Ray. He comments that the statue of Our Lady looks like something from a junkyard. He tells Lily that found her because of the collect phone call she made. Clayton’s office showed up on T. Ray’s phone bill. He went to the office and the secretary told him where Lily was staying. T. Ray notices Lily’s pin and asks where she got it. Lily explains that Deborah stayed in the pink house and that August gave her the pin.
T. Ray goes into a rage and hits Lily. He is confused and calls her Deborah. He repeatedly asks why she left him. Lily shouts at him, telling him who she is. Finally she calls him “Daddy” and he snaps out of his trance. August and Rosaleen return; Lily motions for them to be quiet. T. Ray demands that Lily come home with him. She says she will not leave. August and Rosaleen step in. August tells T. Ray that Lily has a home with her as long as she likes. T. Ray continues to demand that Lily come with him. The Daughters come into the house. August tells T. Ray that he would be doing her a favor if he let Lily stay. She tells him that Lily has become her apprentice bee keeper and that they love her. T. Ray finally agrees, saying “good riddance.” T. Ray gets into his truck and starts to drive away. Lily chases him and he stops. She tells him that she needs to know if she killed her mother. T. Ray tells her that she did not mean to do it, but, yes, she killed Deborah. He drives away
Lily moves into June’s room after June’s wedding. August and the Daughters made the room into something Lily could never have imagined because it is so beautiful. Clayton works on the charges against Lily and Rosaleen and believes they will be dropped by Thanksgiving. Lily becomes friends with Clayton’s daughter, Becca. She and Becca go to the same school as Zach and sit with him whenever they can at lunch. The other kids tease them, but Lily and Becca do not care. Lily has forgiven herself and her mother. She sits in her new room and writes everything down. Lily keeps up May’s wall--she gives it fresh prayers and fresh rocks. Lily visits the black Mary every day and feels that she has more mothers than anyone else.
I like, and don’t like this ending. I feel like it should be explained more but at the same time, it’s a nice after-story to it. T. Ray is sill, go figure, an asshole. I’m glad he just let her go. I like how Lily Is loyal to Zach in this time period. It’s very nice. The book was nice, I don’t tend to like reality-based books.