Lily recalls her very last memory of her mother, Deborah, who died when Lily was a small child. Lily thinks that she played a horrible part in Deborah’s death. In a flashback, readers learn that T. Ray told Lily that she accidentally shot Deborah while Deborah and T. Ray were fighting one day.
What does Lily realize about her mother in the Secret Life of bees?
When Lily discovers May tempting the roaches, Lily realizes that her long-standing suspicious were correct: her mother once spent time in the Boatwright house. Like May, Kidd carefully lays out many marshmallow and graham cracker–like clues so that readers perhaps recognize the links between Lily’s mother and the sisters.
What happened to Lily's mother in the hate you give?
When Deborah returned to her family, intending to take Lily with her and away from T. Ray, there was a horrible accident, resulting in Lily accidentally shooting her mother. Overall, Deborah is a woman of contradictions: loving yet shockingly neglectful.
Why does Lily go to the honey house?
Overwhelmed by the news, Lily goes to the honey house to be alone. She falls asleep and dreams about her mother. First, her mother is searching for her, then her mother has roach legs and frightens Lily. For the next few days, Lily walks around in a stupor. She spends a great deal of time imagining her mother around the house.
What is Lily’s only memory of her mother?
Lily’s only memory of her mother ( Deborah, as we learn later) concerns the day of her death, December 3, 1954. Her mother... (full context) Lily’s mother was named Deborah, she recalls. Deborah —whose name T. Ray refuses to say anymore—was born in Virginia.
What does T Ray tell Lily about what happened to her mother?
At home, T. Ray scolds Lily harshly, but she stands up to him. She tells him that her mother will not let him harm her, but he laughs at the idea that her dead mother functions as her guardian angel. He tells Lily that Deborah had already abandoned Lily when she returned home and was killed.
What happened to the mom in The Secret Life of Bees?
Deborah Fontanel Owens: The deceased mother of Lily Owens and wife of T. Ray Owens. Deborah died in a gun accident when Lily was 4. Deborah is buried in Virginia.
Where is Lily's mom from Secret life of bees?
Deborah was Lily's mother. She grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and is buried there. She moved down to South Carolina to be near August, her family's former housekeeper, after her mother passed.
Is Lily's mom alive in The Secret Life of Bees?
Her nanny and housekeeper, Rosaleen, believes Lily but also thinks Lily is foolish for trying to collect the bees in a jar. Lily recalls her very last memory of her mother, Deborah, who died when Lily was a small child.
Does Lily forgive T Ray?
Undoubtedly, there will continue to be times when she will still feel badly about what happened, but Lily now realizes (and T. Ray even admits) that she did not mean to do it and she must forgive herself for the accidental death of her mother.
What is the date of Lily's mom's death?
December 3, 1954Lily has a horrific memory that haunts her. Deborah, her mother, died on December 3, 1954, after a heated argument with T. Ray. Lily was only four, but she remembers her mother hurriedly packing a suitcase.
What did Lily find out about her mom?
In chapter 12, Lily finally builds up the courage to ask August about her mother. When she does, she finds out that August knew her mother very well. She was Deborah's housekeeper for 9 years.
How did August know Lily's mother?
Lily learns that August has known her identity for the entire time that Lily has lived in the house and that August once knew Deborah. August explains that she worked as a housekeeper in Deborah's childhood home and helped raise Deborah from age 4 to age 19.
Why does Lily lie to August?
Lily thinks that August has seen right through her lies and feels a twinge of guilt. However, she wants to be accepted into the house too badly to risk being honest. Rosaleen gets irritated at Lily not only for lying but also because Lily keeps speaking for Rosaleen, as if she were not there.
How did Mays death affect Lily?
Although May's suicide is violent and sad, her death leads Lily to some positive realizations. The trauma of May's death disturbs Lily's routine and causes her to realize just how happy she has become in the Boatwright house.
Who killed Deborah in The Secret Life of Bees?
Lily's mother. Deborah was shot accidentally by four-year-old Lily. At the time, she had already left Lily and T. Ray and gone to stay with her old housekeeper, August Boatwright, in Tiburon.
What is the message behind Secret Life of bees?
The Secret Life of Bees demonstrates the irrationality of racism by not only portraying black and white characters with dignity and humanity but by also demonstrating how Lily struggles with—and ultimately overcomes—her own racism.
Who killed Deborah in The Secret Life of Bees?
Lily's mother. Deborah was shot accidentally by four-year-old Lily. At the time, she had already left Lily and T. Ray and gone to stay with her old housekeeper, August Boatwright, in Tiburon.
What does August mean when she tells Lily she has to find a mother inside yourself?
In the end, however, August's ultimate goal is not to replace Lily's mother but to give Lily a sense of the mother inside herself. In short, August wants Lily to find true independence. August understands that self-reliance is one of the most important things in a woman's life.
What did Mrs Henry do for Lily?
What did Mrs. Henry do for Lily? Taught her that intelligence is worth more than beauty, helped her develop a passion for reading, and urge her to go to college. Before Lily went into first grade, T.
How does having her mother's things and knowing the whole story affect Lily What does she do?
How does having her mother's things and knowing the whole story affect Lily? It puts Lily in a state of grief. She can only think of her mother. She drew into herself and spent most of her time alone by the river.
What does Lily find in the Secret Life of Bees?
When The Secret Life of Bees first opens, Lily sets the tone for the abusive parenting she lives under through the torment of her father. One night when she thinks it's late enough, she sneaks out to the orchard to find the tin box that holds her mother's belongings: white gloves, a photograph wrapped in wax paper, ...
What does Lily have from her mother?
Lily has very few things from her mother, a photograph of her, a pair of white cotton gloves that are darkening with age, and a small picture of a black Mary, glued onto a small block of wood, with Tiburon, S.C. written on the back of it. She has placed these items in a tin box, and she has buried the box out in the peach orchard, a "special place" (14) that no one else knows about. She visits her special place from time to time and unearths the box. She puts on the gloves and examines the photograph and the picture of the black Mary, thinking about her mother, wondering about her, and missing her terribly. One night, she sneaks out to do this and falls asleep in the orchard. Her father, T. Ray, finds her there and accuses her of sneaking out to meet a boy. He punishes her when they get back by making her kneel on grits, which are very painful to kneel on. And it is a terrible punishment, particularly for someone who was just trying to conjure up her lost mother.
What does August bring to Lily's mother?
Near the end of the novel, August comes to Lily with some things she has kept belonging to Lily's mother and shares them with her: a pocket mirror, a hairbrush, a gold pin shaped like a whale, a book of poetry, ...
What does Lily keep on a shelf in the end?
When Lily settles in to her new bedroom in the end, she keeps her mother's treasures on a special shelf in her room. She comments that "the feeling that they are holy objects is already starting to wear off.".
Why is Lily horrified by this news?
Lily is horrified by this news, because it means that she was the reason Deborah entered an unhappy marriage— Lily was an unwanted baby. August insists that Deborah always loved Lily. When Deborah used to call August to talk, she’d always talk about Lily. For all Lily’s protests, she’s quite a lot like her mother.
Why did Lily and Rosaleen go to jail?
After she’s finished crying, Lily explains the rest of her story: she and Rosaleen snuck out of Sylvan after Rosaleen went to jail for trying to register to vote. As she admits this to August, she begins crying again. Lily thinks to herself that she’s a bad person: a liar and a thief, full of hate for other people.
What does Lily mean by "hateful"?
Lily’s insistence that she’s a hateful, unlovable person is a surprising non sequitur—Lily’s not perfect by any means, but “hateful” doesn’t really come to mind when describing her, and she’s often felt entitled to love and care. Perhaps what Lily means is that she’s consumed with self -hatred: she can’t stand the fact that she might have been the cause of her mother’s death. Her simple statement “I am unlovable,” while a powerful condensation of anxiety and depression, likewise doesn’t seem to fit what we know of the character.
What did August give Lily in the story?
August takes Lily outside for “a little breather.”. Outside, Lily gives August the “missing piece” of the story: the picture of the Virgin Mary that Deborah carried around. August explains that she gave Deborah the picture shortly before her death—Deborah must have written the city and state on the back as a record.
What did Deborah tell August about her mother?
August tells Lily that Deborah visited her in Tiburon shortly before her death. Deborah told August that she was planning to leave T. Ray soon—she’d been very depressed lately. Lily is sad to hear this about her mother: after a life spent worshipping Deborah, she tells August, she now finds that she feels only hate for her. August, shocked to hear Lily speaking like this, insists that Deborah shouldn’t be blamed for what she did: she was depressed, and “depressed people do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.” August explains that Deborah’s plan was to divorce T. Ray and then take care of Lily. Lily realizes that on the day Deborah died, she was trying to take Lily out of Sylvan with her.
What was Deborah's plan in the book?
August explains that Deborah’s plan was to divorce T. Ray and then take care of Lily. Lily realizes that on the day Deborah died, she was trying to take Lily out of Sylvan with her. There’s a delicate balance between forgiving other people and forgiving oneself, and August cleverly navigates between these two acts.
What does August tell Lily about her parents?
Deborah was a lively child, though a bad student. Before August says anything more about Deborah, she asks Lily to tell her the truth about her own parents.
How does Lily change in The Secret Life of Bees?
In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd shows Lily’s change through a series of steps eventually helping her reach the point in her life she wants to be at. In today’s culture each child must go through different challenges causing them to become more mature and less dependant on others transitioning them into the real world. Overall children in their teenage years adapt and overcome challenges causing the to change. Lily’s change within The Secret Life of Bees is a transition and a coming of age.
What is the secret life of bees kidd about?
In The Secret Life of Bees Kidd shows how Lily has become less naive and has started to understand the serious issues in the world related to racism.When arriving at the Boatwright house she is introduced to Zach; a young, athletic, african male, who is a hard worker and supports August beekeeping.
What are the challenges of Lily?
Characters in the novel must face their challenges. Lily often times worries and does not show her true self to others. I worried so much about how I looked and wether I was doing things right, I felt half of the time I was Impersonating a girl rather than really being one. Lily during this point of the novel was immature and still finding her true self. She was self concios about personal characteristics. As she develops through the story as a person she accepts herself with support from the Boatwrights.
What happened to Lily after meeting Virgin Black Mary?
Lily was in the dark and was confused about her true self. After meeting Virgin Black Mary, it changes her and she realizes what actually happened with her mothers death.
What is coming of age in The Secret Life of Bees?
Coming of age is a young person’s transition from being a child to being an adult,This continues through the teenage years causing them to undergo changes and with time, become more mature. In The Secret Life of Bees, Lily is a teenage girl living in a small town in South Carolina. Lily’s mother passed away when she was young and Lily struggles to cope with her mother’s death and seeks answers for the truth. Lily was forced to grow up with an abusive father who showed little to no affection towards his daughter. Sue Monk Kidd presents the idea that change allows Lily to mature and develop as a character causing her to become more independent.
What does August say to Lily?
We’re all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake, but she tried to fix it. August is saying this to Lily explaining that everyone can make mistakes. Lily’s mother leaving Lily was a big mistake but the fact that Deborah came back proves that she is human.
What happens to Lily in the Honey House?
Overwhelmed by the news, Lily goes to the honey house to be alone. She falls asleep and dreams about her mother. First, her mother is searching for her, then her mother has roach legs and frightens Lily. For the next few days, Lily walks around in a stupor.
What does Lily's bee sting do to Zach?
In this way, Lily’s bee sting both explains Zach’s arrest and foreshadows the negative events that are soon to befall the Boatwright family. When Lily discovers May tempting the roaches, Lily realizes that her long-standing suspicious were correct: her mother once spent time in the Boatwright house.
What does August tell Lily about bees?
Summary. August wakes Lily up. It is extremely hot, and they need to water the bees to keep them cool. Lily gets stung while replacing a lid on a hive box. August tells her she could not be a true beekeeper without getting stung. Lily feels proud of the fact that, in August’s eyes, she has become a true beekeeper.
What does Lily ride into town with?
Instead, Lily rides into town with Zach to buy a new radiator. At the store, a crowd of white men waits in front of the movie theater for the movie star and his black girlfriend. Zach ’s friends are also there. They are three black teenagers like Zach. After taunting the white men, one boy throws a bottle at them.
What is Lily proud of?
Lily feels proud of the fact that, in August’s eyes, she has become a true beekeeper. “A writer, an English teacher, and a beekeeper,” she thinks. When they get back to the house, they find Rosaleen and May having a water fight with the sprinkler outside. They are laughing and giggling like children.
What does Lily learn when she goes to talk to August?
But when Lily goes to speak to August, she learns August is busy. Instead, Lily rides into town with Zach to buy a new radiator.
What does Lily realize about Zach?
Lily realizes that, despite what she feels personally, she remains a member of a greater, flawed society. Realizing this inspires her to take her writing more seriously, and she vows to write Zach’s story.