Book report #1 Due Sept 12

Book Title: The Secret Life of Bees

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Lily Owens is a brave and determine young girl with an open mind. She only lives with her father since her mother past away which can be due to the fact that she does not dress in the latest fashion for young girls. She doesn’t cut her hair regularly and she doesn’t take care of her hair since she doesn’t have the tools for it. The “only” woman in her life is Rosaleen, a colored woman that is under employment of Lily’s father T.Ray- Rosaleen who, along with her duties, also acts like Lily’s caregiver since she's been with Lily for almost all of her life.
Lily is a black-haired, chinless little girl that, and possibly because of the absence of a mother, can’t fit in among other girls in the same age as her.

Quotations from the book that let us know about Lily’s appearance

“You can tell which girls lack mothers by the look of their hair. My hair was constantly going off in eleven wrong directions...” – Page 3

“My hair was black like my mother’s but basically a nest of cowlicks, and it worried me that I didn’t have much of a chin. I kept thinking I’d grow one the same time my breast came in, but it didn’t work out that way. I had nice eyes, though, what you would call Sophia Loren eyes…” – Page 9

“In a matter of seconds I knew exactly what I had to do – leave. I had to get away from T.Ray, who was probably on his way back this minute to do Lord-knows-what to me. Not to mention I had to get Rosaleen out of jail.” – Page 41

Rosaleen Daise is an ageless woman that works for Lily’s father T.Ray. She is described in the book as a big and colored woman with a bit of an attitude. Rosaleen is despite her boldness a caring and loving person who doesn’t want any fights but cannot, with the situation she is in, let injustice and inequality go pass.

Quotations from the book that let us know about Rosaleen’s appearance

“She had a big round face and a body that sloped out from her neck like a pup tent, and she was so black that night seemed to seep from her skin.” – Page 2

“We walked along the ledge of the highway, Rosaleen moving in the pace of a bank-vault door…” – Page 28

“– Where did you get that fan, nigger? – Stole it from the church, She said. Just like that” – Page 32

Mr. Avery Gaston is a policeman that is not suited for his job. He is an unfair and conservative racist who “sees between his fingers” when the situation needs it. Mr. Gaston is also called Shoe and is described in the book as a person with small ears.

Quotations from the book that let us know about Mr. Gaston’s appearance

“The one thing about him was the smallness of his ears, the ears of a child, ears like little dried apricots.” – page 34

“His smile appeared in the rearview mirror. – I can’t say what men riled up like that will do.”
– Page 35

Main events in the book

I think that the main events in these chapters happens during a short period of time and the first is when Rosalee pours snuff juice on three of the town’s worst racists. This triggers Lilly’s and Rosaleen’s escape from not only their home but also from the law. Here you see the difference between people and how much hate there is in the world; something that neither Lily nor Rosaleen wants to be part of.
Next event is when Lily and her father go through a fight about whether Lily’s mother loved Lily (and/or both of them) or not and about the day Lily’s mother died. This certain event is the main reason why Lily decides to run away from the life she has. The importance in this is to understand that Lily, though not having a physical relationship to her mother still wants to believe that her mother is still with her even though she does not longer live. During this dispute T.Ray says a couple of things about Lily’s mother that affects Lily and almost sets her life upwards down.
That dispute also makes us move on to the third event that is, in some ways, connected to the dispute; the event when Lily jailbreaks Rosaleen from the hospital. This do not only show how determine Lily is as a person but also that Lily understand that she needs to start a new life and get away from her old life, forever.

Future thoughts

The next thing that will happen in this book is that someday the past will catch them running and it will probably not be that kind. Of course, T.Ray, though he does not really care, will search for Lily. Probably because he feels a need of it rather then that he wants and to not become embarrassed in the city he’s living in. Eventually the three racists that has been “assaulted” and the police will search for them as well, to for the first men; get their “justice” and for the later; keep everything in order by the law and for himself.
They will also during their escape have to pretend that they are somebody else and lie to everybody around them. They will also feel afraid of being caught and have the feeling of looking over the shoulder all the time. It is going to interesting to see how this evolves..

Best part from the book

The best part so far in the book is when Lily realizes that she has to make a change in her life and do something about her life situation. In this particular episode she realize that she has to find a new way, her own way and to do something different about her non-fascinating life. She realizes that she can't live together with T.Ray and that she has to get away from everything about him and the life they're living.

“I took a breath to steady myself.
You could say I’d never had a true religious moment, the kind where you know yourself spoken to by a voice that seems other than yourself, spoken to so genuinely you see the words shining on trees and clouds. But I had such a moment right then, standing in my own ordinary room.
I heard a voice say, Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open.”