Lily Owens Character Analysis Essay

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Throughout the novel, Lily Owens goes through many changes in the way she acts and how she perceives things. After accidentally killing her mother, Lily feels insecure and alone without a maternal figure. Rosaleen, her nanny, doesn’t exactly fit the role. This causes Lily to lack femininity and maturity as a woman. Over the course of the novel she learns to see past color and living with the Boatwright sisters allowed her to learn more about herself, her mother, and of course, bees. The first sign of maturity was when she ran away from her abusive father and helped Rosaleen escape from the hospital. (pg. 41-65) She was determined to find out what really happened with her mother and lead herself and Rosaleen to Tiburon. This requires a great deal of courage and boldness to find your way somewhere and you have no idea where it is. But Lily was clever and used the jars of honey that she saw in the general store to lead her to the Boatwright sisters. The journey demonstrates her keen intelligence and strength. Lily’s time at the Boatwright house further…show more content…
When T-Ray was treating Lily like her mother, Lily realized this and told T-Ray. And finally when T-Ray demanded that Lily should go home with him, Lily plainly told him that she wasn’t leaving. “I’m staying here,” I said. “I’m not leaving.” The words hung there, hard and gleaming. Like pearls I’d been fashioning down inside my belly for weeks. - Lily (pg. 296). She is basically standing up to the childhood that she left behind. Her ability to stand up to her father and forgive him the way she forgave her mother unquestionably shows her growth and development as a young woman. The Secret Life of Bees is a perfect illustration of coming- of- age and Sue Monk Kidd ends the novel with Lily Owens well on her way to becoming a woman and taking control of her life. She realizes that she had a mother in August and her community all
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