THE SECRET LIFE OF
BEES
SUE MONK KIDD
Hunter Evans
Sue Monk Kidd
◦ Kidd was born on August 12th, 1948, in Sylvester, Georgia.
◦ Heavily influenced by Henry David Thoreau, and Kate Chopin.
◦ Graduated with a B.S. nursing degree from Texas Christian University in 1970.
◦ Won many awards for The Secret Life of Bees.
Historical Context
◦ Set in 1964
◦ South Carolina during the Civil Rights Movement
◦ President Johnson just signed the Civil Rights Act
◦ Segregation was illegal, but whites were still prejudice towards African Americans
Lily Owens
T-Ray’s daughter
Insecure- wants to look like the other girls
Sees people despite their skin color
Accidentally killed her mom, Deborah, when she was four
Cares deeply about others
Loves to write
Falls for a colored man named Zach
T-Ray
◦ Abusive
◦ Angry towards Lily since she accidentally killed her mom, Deborah, when she was four
◦ Was once madly in love with Deborah
◦ Resentful and prideful
Rosaleen Daise
◦ Lily’s nanny
◦ Plays a mother role after Deborah’s passing
◦ Sticks up for what she believes in
◦ Cares about Lily as if she was her own daughter
August Boatwright
◦ Welcomes Lily and Rosaleen into her home
◦ Housekeep for Deborah when she was a child
◦ After Deborah left T-Ray and Lily, she went to stay with August
◦ Bee-keeper, sells honey to support herself and sisters
◦ Loving
◦ Religious
Themes
◦ Secrets- throughout the novel, Lily tries to learn more about her mother and her past.
◦ Racisim- even though segregation was illegal at this point, whites were still treating
African Americans poorly. For example, when Rosaleen was arrested.
◦ Storytelling- when August tells Lily things about her mother and her past.
Literary Devices
◦ First person- the whole novel is in Lily’s point of view
◦ Imagery- Kidd uses the images of bees throughout the novel and
◦ Symbolism- Lily uses the statue Our Lady of Chains as a motherly figure to look out for
her when she starts missing her mom
My opinion…
◦ I liked Rosaleen the best and how she was so confident and didn’t let people treat her
badly.
◦ I thought it was cool that Lily meets someone that was tied into her mother, other than
Rosaleen and T-Ray.
◦ Time period was interesting.