Could you ever imagine you are the reason your mother is gone? That you were the one who killed her? That is something our main character, Lily, has to deal with every day. The Secret Life of Bees is a novel about a young girl who leaves her father in search of a new life and ends up finding the Boatwright sisters and finds out more regarding mother. Lily’s journey hasn’t been easy especially when it came to her mother, Deborah. Her mother died when Lily was 4 years old. Lily shot her on accident and killed her. So naturally Lily feels so much guilt from that, idealization followed, then hatred, then forgiveness, and lastly acceptance. This all happened in a span of about 6 weeks. In Sue Monk Kidd’s, The Secret Life of Bees, Lily moves through stages of guilt for what she did, infatuation with her mother, anger, forgiveness, and then acceptance that everyone makes mistakes. …show more content…
Knowing she is the reason she doesn’t have a mother devastated her. Lily’s father only makes things worse. He isn’t exactly the epitome of a “good father.” In 99% of the time we read about T-Ray he is being mean to Lily. Lily even keeps a box of her mother’s things and will lay them on her chest just to feel some type of connection. Anyone can tell Lily just craves to have her mother there. An argument about Deborah between Lily and T-Ray really is the turning point in the story. After the argument, ending with Lily saying she hates T-Ray, she decided to get Rosaleen out of jail and run away. When Lily runs away from T-Ray I believe that it is so symbolic. She is being “set free” just like those bees she released. She says “I heard a voice say, Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open.”(41) By the end of the book we realize that’s the best thing she could have ever done for