The Secret Life of Bees

Marc Fleury

Hour 2

5/13/12

Mrs. Moore

The Bees

In A Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd uses the bees and their hive as a metaphor of life. The bees work together just like a society on the bee hive. The hive is run by the queen bee or the “mother bee”. Lily eventually figures out that the queen can be replaced once she dies. This helps her realize that just because her original mother died it doesn’t mean that she can’t have another mother figure in her life. Fortunately Lily had Rosaleen and August to take the role of her “mother”. Without the bees Lily would have never changed her life in a positive way.

In the beginning the bees play an important role because they came to Lily’s room to give her a signal that she should go out on her own and not live with T Ray anymore. If the bees would have never given her this signal she could have continued to live with T Ray and be miserable the rest of her life. Once she left T Rays house she and Rosaleen traveled to Tiburon and then moved in with August, May, and June. They all lived on a bee farm and this is where Lily really realizes how the bee’s life is so similar to hers.

The bees really help Lily grasp the idea that it is okay to have another mother figure in her life. Once the bees queen bee or “mother bee” dies at first all the bees are confused and do not know what to do just like Lily was. But, then they got a new queen bee and everything went back to normal. This taught Lily that having Rosaleen or August as a mother figure in her life was okay even if they were not her real mother. Once Lily figures this out a big weight is lifted off of her shoulders because she now has a mother in her life who she can trust and tell anything too.

Having an all women bee hive really helps Lily comprehend that just because she is a women doesn’t mean she can’t be strong and accomplish great things. Since Lily lives in a all female home this really means a lot and the bond that she has with Rosaleen, May, June,...