The Secret Life of Bees
Chapters 13 and 14 Questions
Chapter 13:
1. What conflict is at the root of Lily’s anger as she sits in front of the Mary
statue?
2. What insight does Rosaleen offer Lily about her mother? Compare this
conversation with their dialogue in chapter 2. How is Lily’s reaction different
now than in chapter 2? Did Rosaleen do the right thing?
Chapter 14:
1. Lily goes to the river to contemplate her new knowledge. What other
episodes in the novel were set at a river? What meaning can you infer from
this motif (the definition of motif is in chapter 8 questions)?
2. August explains a unifying theme evident in the queenless be hive and the
parable of Beatrix and the Virgin Mary. State this theme in your own words.
3. What traits does Lily show when T. Ray finds her at the Boatwright house?
4. Compare what Lily longed for in chapter 1 to her new life in Tiburon. What
has she gained? What has she lost?