"Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother" , Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina- a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black bee-keeping sisters, Lily is introduced to the mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come."
This book tackled a lot of issues and themes; racial discrimination, feminism, religion, and growing up, and I think it did it well. It was interesting that the story was told from the point of view of a white girl. What made Lily an interesting character was that she had a bit of racism in her herself- she had grown up in South Carolina, raised by a white father, what were you to expect? So her fight in the book wasn't against racism in general, it was really just against the racism in herself. But the thing is, Lily wasn't evil, she wasn't a bad person because she was racist, and because of this the reader could understand racism a bit more than if the story were told by a black person villainizing white racists. You get an up close and personal look into what makes someone racist, and what can cure them of it. Lily really only realized how it feels to be discriminated against for skin color when she was surrounded by black people and they didn't want her around. She realized how stupid and superficial of a reason it was to judge people.
A lot of this book centers around the figure of the Black Madonna/ the Virgin Mary, and besides tying religion into the story, it introduces a sort of feminist, girl-power theme. There is a group of black women that call themselves the Daughters of Mary and worship the Black Madonna, which is not typical of Christianity--Jesus Christ is barely mentioned, and when He is it's by male characters. But what the women are worshiping isn't even the mother of Christ- no, they are worshiping "the mother of thousands", like a queen bee in a hive. And Mary is inside all of them, lending them strength, giving them the will to fight back. I liked this take on religion, the idea that what we worship is not so much figures from a story, but what they represent, the qualities that they have.
I thought that The Secret Life of Bees was written very well. The imagery was beautiful and vivid, the characters came to life and were easy to connect to, and the plot ran smoothly. But something that I found especially interesting about the writing was the use of smells. Yes, in English class we learn to describe something using all five senses, but in reality descriptions involve mostly sight and a bit of sound. Yet Sue Monk Kidd gave us a pungent tour through most of the South Carolina plant species and a good amount of the cooking too, which really enhanced the setting of the book. Color and light were also used in heavy doses, along with bird imagery and a good amount of symbolism, which sated the more analytical side of me.
This book tackled a lot of issues and themes; racial discrimination, feminism, religion, and growing up, and I think it did it well. It was interesting that the story was told from the point of view of a white girl. What made Lily an interesting character was that she had a bit of racism in her herself- she had grown up in South Carolina, raised by a white father, what were you to expect? So her fight in the book wasn't against racism in general, it was really just against the racism in herself. But the thing is, Lily wasn't evil, she wasn't a bad person because she was racist, and because of this the reader could understand racism a bit more than if the story were told by a black person villainizing white racists. You get an up close and personal look into what makes someone racist, and what can cure them of it. Lily really only realized how it feels to be discriminated against for skin color when she was surrounded by black people and they didn't want her around. She realized how stupid and superficial of a reason it was to judge people.
A lot of this book centers around the figure of the Black Madonna/ the Virgin Mary, and besides tying religion into the story, it introduces a sort of feminist, girl-power theme. There is a group of black women that call themselves the Daughters of Mary and worship the Black Madonna, which is not typical of Christianity--Jesus Christ is barely mentioned, and when He is it's by male characters. But what the women are worshiping isn't even the mother of Christ- no, they are worshiping "the mother of thousands", like a queen bee in a hive. And Mary is inside all of them, lending them strength, giving them the will to fight back. I liked this take on religion, the idea that what we worship is not so much figures from a story, but what they represent, the qualities that they have.
I thought that The Secret Life of Bees was written very well. The imagery was beautiful and vivid, the characters came to life and were easy to connect to, and the plot ran smoothly. But something that I found especially interesting about the writing was the use of smells. Yes, in English class we learn to describe something using all five senses, but in reality descriptions involve mostly sight and a bit of sound. Yet Sue Monk Kidd gave us a pungent tour through most of the South Carolina plant species and a good amount of the cooking too, which really enhanced the setting of the book. Color and light were also used in heavy doses, along with bird imagery and a good amount of symbolism, which sated the more analytical side of me.
In The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd skillfully portrays the idea of racism in the South during the time of the Civil Rights Act, presenting it in a way so that the reader can understand and accept it without simply dismissing it as "bad" and "wrong", but at the same time Sue Monk Kidd doesn't turn her story into a parable preaching against discrimination. Although I enjoyed the book and there was a lot to think about, it didn't leave too much of an impression on me like other books have. I think this was in part to a lot of the questions and ideas being cleared up, answered, or defined by the end; there weren't any of the ideas that two people could debate different sides of and neither one be right or wrong. The ending was pretty predictable in my mind-there weren't any plot twists and everything was wrapped up happily the way you wanted it to be. Overall a good read, but not the kind that sticks.
Update
August 12 2013--
I forgot to say in this review that I wished the character of t.ray-- lily's father--- had been developed a bit more.
Update
August 12 2013--
I forgot to say in this review that I wished the character of t.ray-- lily's father--- had been developed a bit more.
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