The Secret Life of Bees

 

Author's note: A lot happens in the first 3 chapters, but what the main problems were the main character, Lily, and her dad's bad relationship, the guilt about killing her mother, and racial segregation against her nanny, Rosaleen. It made me feel really sad for Lily, to have to go through this.

Lily Owens has suffered a rough childhood, but has stayed strong through all of it. These chapters remind me of perseverance, bravery, and faith, three things Lily has a lot of. We all have regrets, and Lily is no exception. When she was only 4, she made a mistake that still affects her to this day. All of us make mistakes, but some of our mistakes are smaller, and we forget about them the next day. But Lily's one mistake has held her in guilt her entire life. It takes a strong person to hold onto life after that. Even when people stare and whisper, she perseveres. To make things worse, she has an abusive dad. When you do something wrong, it always feel better when someone says 'it's okay, it's wasn't your fault'. But Lily doesn’t get that from her dad. Her one and only friend is Rosaleen, an African-American woman who has raised her since her mother died. When Rosaleen gets taken away from her, Lily decides to put both their lives on the line to get her back. This is an act of true bravery. These chapters reminded me how important it is to keep the faith and fight for what you love, because it might be all you've got.

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Author's note: These chapters didn't give me one clear message, so I am just writing about all of it in general.

In these chapters, Lily and Rosaleen meet the Boatwrights, 3 African-American sisters that keep bees. I think the way Lily finds these people is very special. When she sees the picture of the black Mary on the honey jars in the store, she could have lost hope. I might have decided that the picture from her mom's things meant nothing all of a sudden, that it was just a piece of junk. But Lily decided that it was a sign to go see this woman, and in the end, I think she was right. I think that the sisters will end up helping Lily figure out her life. The most interesting part of these chapters to me, though, was when August told the story about April, their deceased sister. I expected Lily to tell the truth about herself there, too. Although she was right to be afraid that they might call the cops, I don't believe that the sisters would have done that. One thing I would like to know, though, is why June is the way she is. I think it is more than just her sister's death. 

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Author's note: Near the end of this chapter, August talks a little about the moon, and how once they land on it, it will be less of a mystery and more of a science project. I couldn't agree more and I think the purpose of this short part in the book is to show that we should stop being so desperate about knowing things and just enjoy them.

When you're a child, you look at the universe with ignorance, an open mind, admiration. Knowing too much can, at times, take away from the beauty of life. With all these advances ink technology these days, we are learning more and more about the world around us. This can be good when it comes to medicine and energy resources, but the really amazing thing about life is a mystery. When I look at the moon I don't think about how it is lit by the sun shining off of it, but how it seems like a source of life itself. Picturing human footprints on it takes away from the magnificence. I'm sure that when people look at flowers, they don’t start remembering what they learned about photosynthesis and pollination. What I see is a colorful creation that makes the experience here on earth worth while. There is no way we can go back now, to a simpler life, when we thought the sun revolved around us. Technology will always be moving us forward. Scientists say all the research is to help us learn more about our universe, but when our day comes, it won't matter how much we learned. What will measure our life how much we truly felt the wonder and enjoyed it.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

~unknown

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Author's note: In this chapter, Lilly experiences a lot of different emotions and I think this is because she kept them all bottled up for too long. This free verse poem is about what I imagine life feels like for her. I am trying to develop a pattern of repetition in some of the stanzas.

I am trapped,

In a web of my own lies.

No place to go,

No purpose in life,

No motive to live.

When will it stop?

What will happen?

Why me?

I had no choice of my destiny.

I have no worth.

I will have no love.

Somewhere,

Someday,

Somehow,

This will all be over

The pain,

The guilt,

The sorrow,

All gone.

One day, but only after,

I rid this web of lies.

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Author's note:
I wrote this because I recently had a speech about fairness and how it's not really definable since not one person is the same, so sometimes we should be treated differently because not every one can help what kind of life they have or situation they are in, like Lily. This is specificly about her family.


Family is like a mold. It's part of what makes us all different. It can also trap you, hold you to a life you don't want. Sometimes it's good to rebel, to break free from the mold and be your own person. Today, the person you turn out as often mirrors your family. It seems as though that, because of these family traits, we can judge people before even knowing them. Even families can set unreachable expectations, making you feel like you have only to follow those guidelines through life. When you see a loud, disruptive person, you'd probably think that either he/she wasn't raised right or that this person's whole family is like that. There are certain traditions that family members are expected to hand down from generation to generation. Many centuries ago, your job would be whatever your parents were. You had no choice. You had to be your parent. In Lily's case, she would grow up to be a terrible person. But luckily, Lily had one trait that changed her path... courage. She was able to break free from T.Ray and go off to [hopefully] live a better life. Had she not done this, she might still be suffering, and eventually grow up to be just like T.Ray.When your young, the type of environment you grow up in is what you expect the world to be, and Lily was smart and very lucky to know her father's way of life was wrong. Either way, people shouldn't judge people before they really know them, and where they come from, like kids at Lily's school did. Every one deserves a chance to be themselves.