The Secret Life of Bees

740 Words3 Pages
The idea of friction between a child and one's parent lies at the heart of Lily's experiences in The Secret Life of Bees. Lily has no relationship with her father, one who is abusive and neglects his child's needs. This is where rosaleen steps in they go thru a lot like racism and very mean people. So she decides to run away from her problems and issues instead of facing them. She finds August, May, and June. Once they find them Lily changes and finds out some shocking news after she uncovers all the lies that she's told. The lack of mothers, the search for mothers, and the importance of mothers appear throughout the novel and demonstrate the significance of mothers to a child's development Everyone, regardless of circumstance or color, needs a mother. As Lily discovers, a person does not need to share a biological connection with a mother figure. Ever since her mother died, she has longed for a maternal touch. Although Rosaleen loves Lily, Rosaleen’s somewhat insensitive, personality prevents her from providing Lily with the kind of compassion that Lily thinks a mother should provide. August, however, can and does provide Lily with what she considers to be “mother’s love” total and complete understanding, firm guidance, and the ability to gently criticize. But August believes in a different kind of motherly love that supplied by the mother of God, the Virgin Mary. For much of the novel, August teaches Lily about the kind of undying, universal, hidden love that exists everywhere in the world but which is actually manufactured by the Virgin Mary. According to August, in order to feel the completeness stolen from her when her mother died, Lily must realize that she is loved by this Great Universal Mother. The Secret Life of Bees demonstrates racism by not only showing black and white characters with dignity but by also demonstrating how Lily struggles with

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