Essay Example on Lilly's Journey to Change: 'The Secret Life of Bees'

Lilly recalls back in 1964 in the town of sylvan and Tiburon in South Carolina as a fourteen-year-old girl. She remembers the afternoon her mother was killed. The setting of the novel "the secret life of bees" is so important. It is because it provides the bibliophile with the context of the time, environment, and place in which the story takes place. It describes the actual picture as it transfers the reader to the exact time the story takes place.

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Lilly is the one who begins to change in the novel. Lilly newly begins to develop forte and self-assurance about her father. She stands up to her father T ray; she stands up against the world and life she left behind. The experience of being beaten down when she was a child, she rejects that old intellect of herself. As the novel concludes, we see Lilly having taken a hands-on fragment in her lifespan. As she becomes old, she thinks of becoming a woman. Obviously, it is a good move; as Lilly was growing old, it was an excellent move for anyone growing old.

1. Metaphor "pet guinea pig" in this case, Lilly describes herself as a pet guinea pig. She metaphorically describes her relationship with Rosaleen. She says that since Rosaleen has never had a child, she experimenting on her.

2. Symbolism "The queen bee" symbolizes the woman Lilly looks for and finally finds she describes beehive representing the communal that Lilly treasures at the Boatwright's household. The significance of this symbol is that bee life and beekeeping life reflects the human relationship, lifetime, decease, and renaissance.

One of the foreshadowings we see in the book is where we read that Lilly is riveted by bees that inexplicably seem in her chamber. While asleep, she sees the bees buzzing around while landing on her partition. She catches some while putting them in a vessel. As she opens the jar, the bees fly's out. This act helps Lilly to realize that she can leave the brutal act of T. Ray. The early collaboration with these small mortals foreshadows that these bees will, at some point, bee part of her life. This is fulfilled after she migrates to Boatwright's and assisting them in farming and harvesting honey.

One of the flashbacks in where we see, "When I saw the gun in her hand, I ran toward her, clumsy and falling, wanting to save her, to save us all." In this case, Lilly remembers when and how her mother died. She remembers she killed her and also reminisces how she was dumb for the murder of her own mother, and she culpabilities herself. The foreshadowing is clearly shown and clearly pointing out, thus providing no room for guesswork.

Conclusion

I would recommend the book to another reader because it deals mostly with feminine spirituality. The book talks about the power inside everyone. Lilly realized that she could be free is she wanted through the bees that flew out of the jar. I would recommend the book to an age group ranging from grade 9-12. As I make the recommendation about the book, I would inform the reader about the powers that are there in believing in yourself.