Symbolism In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

The Open Jar Symbolism

“I had to get away from T.Ray, who was probably on his way back this minute to do Lord-knows-what to me.”(Kidd 41). Lily Owens, the main character of Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, constantly lives in fear of her father’s temper has to take her wellbeing into her own hands when his temper gets too much for Lily to handle. She was living in an abusive relationship with her father T. Ray, until she runs away and finds safe haven with a family her deceased mother once knew, The Boatwrights. The open jar shows the theme of “saving yourself from unwanted situations” that is strewn throughout the book The Secret Life of Bees when Lily has to save herself from an abusive kinship, and decides to find a loving
relationship at the expense of her past relation.

The theme of “saving yourself from unwanted situations” is revealed when Lily decides to take the problems of her situation into her own hands. She first gets the idea to change her situation from a jar of bees,“The bee jar sat empty on the bedside table, empty now’...‘In a matter of seconds I knew exactly what I had to do-leave.”(Kidd 40 and 41). The empty jar of bees helps Lily realize how to change her unwanted situation; leaving, by leaving she doesn’t have to deal with all the problems her current living situation has. Such as T. Ray’s abusive actions, and the weight of constantly remembering her deceased mother. T.Ray doesn’t give Lily any affection, which is vital to wanting to continue to live because without love you have no reason to continue being miserable. T. Ray and Lily’s relationship is what drives Lily to the point of realizing what the open jar symbolizes. Which proves that Lily has to save herself from her unwanted situation of not being loved.

The theme of “saving yourself from unwanted situations” is present when Lily decides to find a loving relationship.
After Lily decides to leave she had to find out where she can go, Lily thinks, “The town written on the back of the black Mary picture’...‘Or else she knew people there who’d cared enough to send her a nice picture of Jesus’ mother.”(Kidd 43). The first thing Lily thinks of when she knows she has to find another place to live without the problems her last housing arrangement had. She realizes that the people who gave her deceased mother the picture cared enough to send her the picture. Lily was most neglected to being cared for when she lived with T. Ray, so that is the first thing she strives for when changing her situation. When Lily first captures the bee she makes sure the bee is cared for with pollen and enough air for the bee to survive, therefore the bee has everything Lily didn’t have when living with T.Ray. Due to her neglect she decides to go to a place where she believes her mother was once cared for, which is Lily’s ultimate longing in
life.

The theme “saving yourself from unwanted situations” is relevant when lily refuses to go back to the abusive relationship.
Her refusal to put herself back into the unwanted situations goes as,“What did you say?’‘I said I’m not leaving.”(Kidd 296). Living with the Boatwright sisters gives Lily all the things she missed when she was living with T.Ray, so she wasn’t just going to let go of her ideal life and go back to a miserable one. Lily just like the bee, decided to stay where she was cared for. As when Lily had first opened the jar the bee stayed where it was comfortable and taken care of, instead of joining the rest of the swarm in working for every day of it’s life. In the same way Lily chooses to stay where she’s comfortable and taken care of at the Boatwright house, instead of going back to T.Ray and having to work for her
life. Lily has to save herself from an abusive relationship, and decides to find a new relationship at the expense of her past relationship. Due to her revelation that she has to save herself from unwanted situations Lily escapes from T.Ray, finds a loving ‘family’, and stays where she is cared for all because of an open jar. Lily decides to leave because of an epiphany due to a bee leaving an open jar it previously occupied, then she went in search of a place where she would be cared for just as the bee had stayed where it was cared for, and finally Lily refuses to put herself back into a horrible situation just as the bee had stayed where it didn’t have to worry about finding anything to survive. Now that Lily saved herself she no longer has to live in fear of her father’s temper, and in turn will live a long life free of the constant fear of her wellbeing.