Segregation In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd applies indirect characterization in her novel The Secret Life of Bees to Lily, describing her as a free-spirited person in order to develop Lily’s growing desire to leave T Ray. One example demonstrated in the novel is found where Lily and Rosaleen watch President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rights Act. Lily thinks about her opinion toward the wife of the President, ‘Lady Bird,’ while Johnson signs the act. “I did admire his wife, Lady Bird, though, who always looked like she wanted nothing more than to sprout wings and fly away” (20).

In the book “Secret Life of Bee’s” by Sue Monk Kidd, it tells a story about a young girl named Lily and her childhood and what strong memories she has had that have impacted her life. In the beginning of the story it starts off by Lily introducing her father who she called T- Ray. She goes on and describes him as a cruel father who gives her no love or attention. Of course when you get no attention from your father you start to ask why you don’t get any from your mother, but Lily’s mom died December 3, 1954 when Lily was four years old. What had happened was that Lily’s mom ( Deborah ) had got herself into an argument with T- Ray and there was shoving and a gun involved.

The book reflects the racism in the south during the 1960s. In the beginning of the story Roselean was on the way back from voting after the Civil Right Act had been passed and a group of white men begin to harass her and Lily. Roselean became indignant and she spat on one of the men shoe. The men “ grabbed and thrashing side to side” (Kidd, 32) Roselean and demand apologize. The whites in south were not in agreeing terms with the Act that was passed and still protest illegitimately towards the blacks.

In the memoir Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals details her and the rest of the Little Rock Nines’ struggles against segregationists in their attempt to integrate Central High School. They fought through constant harassment and death threats on their journey to become the first black students to successfully complete a school year at a previously all-white school. The book highlights the effects of racial segregation while emphasizing the importance of perseverance and resilience when facing adversity. One of the major themes of the book is the effects of racial discrimination and segregation. Everything from bathrooms to water fountains were separate and black people were treated as second-class citizens.

Lily and Rosaleen arrive at the Boatwright sisters home, and are invited by August to stay with them in the honey house. Lily thinks, “T. Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That’s what let me know I had some prejudice buried inside me”(78).

Coursework 1 In the secret life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd makes the relationship between her and her parents really interesting because throughout the novel all kinds of things start to happen between them. In the beginning of the novel, Deborah wasn't really there for Lily when she was growing up. The reason behind that is because there was an accident with Deborah, Lilly and T. Ray.

One hundred years later people were still struggling with unity among the races. Whites only signs were plastered all over towns. People were segregated due skin color, but there were people like Rosa Parks who stood for what they believed in. After a long day Rosa was tired, her feet hurt and she was fed up with sitting in the back, so she did what no one had done, she sat in the whites only section. Because it was the 1960’s this caused an outrage, Rosa was arrested.

In the United States, some factors of obtaining success in life can be determined by racial status and where they reside. Unfortunately, some minority groups do not get the opportunity to access the benefits of a stable community due to racial residential segregation. This process was created from racial prejudice to isolate minorities from white homeowners. Sociologists such as Gregory Squires, Charis E. Kubrin, and Camille Zubrinsky Charles have created theories to how segregation hurts the community. They discovered that its effects the communities social/ economic wealth and it mostly hurts the African American community.

A New Family: Interracial Relationships and Religion in The Secret Life of Bees In such a diverse world where different races come together and interact, the early 1960s reveal society’s surprised reaction to these relationships. Interracial relationships are strongly frowned upon during this time, almost as if they are illegal. Fortunately, over time, people begin to accept those with different backgrounds and can easily communicate with each other. Hardships are still present today, but society in moving in a better direction.

In the bildungsroman, a coming of age novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the mother figure theme is prevalent. The protagonist, Lily, has lost her mother and lives with T. Ray, her abusive father. Because she endures the cruelty of T. Ray, she is not satisfied with living without a mother. She has different motherly figures who embrace and love her: August Boatwright, Rosaleen, and Mother Mary were the figures that helped shape her and while they could not replace her mother, they certainly filled the “hole” in Lily’s life. August Boatwright, one of the Calendar sisters who cares for her younger sisters, helps Lily mature and teaches her acceptance for everyone hen Lily and her maid Rosaleen went to Tiburon, South Carolina in

In this book Glory is overwhelmed with how her town is handling people who are different than they are. She realizes that her favorite local pool is closing down so colored people can’t swim with the whites. Glory becomes an activist herself and writes a letter to the newspaper lining which makes her preacher father proud. Therefore, the theme of this book is to treat everyone equally, such as when Glory’s friend Frankie from Ohio drinks out of the “colored fountain”. Also, when Glory’s sisters boyfriend that he was arrested for sitting with a “colored friend” at the white table.

Thesis From the mid 1910s to the early 1960s there were many riots that occured, because of racial tensions built up between the the whites and the blacks world wide. Coming from Will Brown being accused of rapping a young white girl, and to Eugene Williams having rocks thrown at him causing him to drown. Segregation at this time was unjustified due to racism still being heavily considered as the right thing to do. These riots caused the United States to be even more segregated, due to unequal rights and no laws being created at the time to help and protect African Americans. During these riots there were cases of police brutality and whites being able to do whatever they choose to do, because they felt as if it was a justified reason to stop the African Americans from rioting.

Segregation means setting someone or something apart from other people or things. Segregation in the 1940s may have applied to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, riding on a bus, or purchasing a home. Like Vivien Thomas, he was helping Dr. Blalock, but his job title was still “janitor”. Also, Vivien had a hard time finding a home for his family because he was African-American. So, think about all of the other black people trying to find jobs, transportation, and a home.

The use of the metaphor of colour in connection with racism and sorrow is important in the novel for the reader to understand Maud Martha’s character, and through these parts of the Black experience. Throughout “Maud Martha” appearance and colour take a large focus. The reader sees the experiences of a young, Black woman during the 1950’s who deals with colourism at every turn: in her marriage, family, and most of her daily interactions. For almost every person that is introduced the reader is told about their skin colour, hair type, etc. It makes sense, then, that Maud Martha’s constant awareness of the way she looks in contrast to everyone around her bleeds into her making sense of the world through colour.

In society, women are often deprived of their rights and viewed as the inferior sex. The Secret Life of Bees is a novel written by Sue Monk Kidd that follows the life of a teenage girl in South Carolina named Lily Owens. An Education is a film directed by Lone Scherfig that is about a teenage schoolgirl named Jenny Mellor who lives in London. Despite the difference in their geographic location, the women in both the novel and the film showed how strong women can be.