Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees
For the past month I have been engaging in a literature circle where my group and I have been reading and analyzing the book The Secret Life of Bees. The author Sue Monk Kidd conveyed the message that family is not defined by blood. In the beginning of the book Lily thought that she can only find a mother and daughter bond from her biological mother. She was extremely persistent and her one goal was to learn more about her mother and find out what life would have been like if her mother was still alive. She constantly feels her mother's absence and feels as though no one besides her real mother can fill this whole. As the story progresses we see Lily’s ideas change as she realizes that motherhood is much more than a biological relationship. She opens her heart to the people who love her and accepts them as her own mother-figures. Lily’s views
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on motherhood develop throughout the book until Lily comes to her final realization shown on page 302 when Lily says, “And there they were. All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me.” Sue Monk Kidd used a metaphor comparing Lily’s new mothers to the moon. This helped convey the message that blood relationships do not make a family, while love does. Sue Monk Kidd compared the effect the Boatwright sisters and Rosaleen have on Lily to the power of the moon shining on the earth. This shows how much of an impact these influential figures had on Lily, just like the moon shines on our earth. Lily shows a lot of heroic qualities throughout the book. Two traits that she really exemplifies is bravery and determination. Lily shows her bravery and determination throughout the whole book, but one event that is a great example is when she left home to save Rosaleen and learn more about her mother, despite her sadness expressed on page 42, “...And stood a moment in the center of the room, wondering if I’d ever see it again.
‘Goodbye,’ I said, and there was a tiny spring of sadness pushing up from my heart.” Lily is aware that all of her memories are in that house and her town, but she takes the risk of never returning again to help the people she loves. This is a true act of heroism taking risks for the people who mean the most to you. In The Secret Life of Bees women are made to think that they are inferior to men and that men hold all the power. Lily’s father T-Ray treated women very unequally and often said that women had less opportunities and were not able to do all the things that men can do. Growing up her whole life with only T-Ray and no mother-figure has left Lily to believe that women really are inferior and not as capable as men. After meeting the daughters of Mary Lily started to no longer underestimate the power of women as she saw the example of Mary, who was a women that was able to do remarkable things. She also learns the power of women by meeting the boatwright sisters who are all remarkably strong. All the women in The Secret Life of Bees are inner heros in their own way and they all show the true
capabilities of women.
When literature circles first began my group did not use our time efficiently as we were speeding through questions and did not take time to think in depth about each one. As the discussions went on our group began to have more rich conversations that required thinking from all group members. I believe I contributed to all discussions and helped further thinking in my group. I added on to other members answers as well as introduced my own ideas. One thing my group can improve on is applying more textual evidence to support our answers. We were making great conclusions, statements and inferences based on the book, but not using actual quotes which would have made the discussions even better.
As a reader I have become more confident in my ability to analyze texts and create inferences which can not be found directly in the text. As we continue our year I believe I could work on improving my ability to connect outside topics to my text not just discuss what is actually written in the book.
on motherhood develop throughout the book until Lily comes to her final realization shown on page 302 when Lily says, “And there they were. All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me.” Sue Monk Kidd used a metaphor comparing Lily’s new mothers to the moon. This helped convey the message that blood relationships do not make a family, while love does. Sue Monk Kidd compared the effect the Boatwright sisters and Rosaleen have on Lily to the power of the moon shining on the earth. This shows how much of an impact these influential figures had on Lily, just like the moon shines on our earth. Lily shows a lot of heroic qualities throughout the book. Two traits that she really exemplifies is bravery and determination. Lily shows her bravery and determination throughout the whole book, but one event that is a great example is when she left home to save Rosaleen and learn more about her mother, despite her sadness expressed on page 42, “...And stood a moment in the center of the room, wondering if I’d ever see it again.
‘Goodbye,’ I said, and there was a tiny spring of sadness pushing up from my heart.” Lily is aware that all of her memories are in that house and her town, but she takes the risk of never returning again to help the people she loves. This is a true act of heroism taking risks for the people who mean the most to you. In The Secret Life of Bees women are made to think that they are inferior to men and that men hold all the power. Lily’s father T-Ray treated women very unequally and often said that women had less opportunities and were not able to do all the things that men can do. Growing up her whole life with only T-Ray and no mother-figure has left Lily to believe that women really are inferior and not as capable as men. After meeting the daughters of Mary Lily started to no longer underestimate the power of women as she saw the example of Mary, who was a women that was able to do remarkable things. She also learns the power of women by meeting the boatwright sisters who are all remarkably strong. All the women in The Secret Life of Bees are inner heros in their own way and they all show the true
capabilities of women.
When literature circles first began my group did not use our time efficiently as we were speeding through questions and did not take time to think in depth about each one. As the discussions went on our group began to have more rich conversations that required thinking from all group members. I believe I contributed to all discussions and helped further thinking in my group. I added on to other members answers as well as introduced my own ideas. One thing my group can improve on is applying more textual evidence to support our answers. We were making great conclusions, statements and inferences based on the book, but not using actual quotes which would have made the discussions even better.
As a reader I have become more confident in my ability to analyze texts and create inferences which can not be found directly in the text. As we continue our year I believe I could work on improving my ability to connect outside topics to my text not just discuss what is actually written in the book.