Essay: The Secret Life of Bees - Novel Analysis and Reflection

This essay provides an analysis of Sue Monk Kidd's novel, *The Secret Life of Bees*. The essay explores the themes of racism, family, and resilience as depicted through the experiences of the protagonist, Lily, and her interactions with the Boatwright sisters. The author reflects on their personal connection to the novel, discussing the impact of racism and the importance of family, drawing parallels between the novel's characters and their own life experiences. The essay also touches upon the author's reflections on the positive messages conveyed by the novel, such as the ability to find strength in adversity, and the importance of emotional expression, drawing inspiration from the characters' behaviors. The essay concludes with a reflection on the meaning of family and the positive outlook towards life, aligning with the themes of acceptance and self-discovery present in the novel. The essay highlights the author's appreciation for the novel's themes and characters.

Running Head: ENGLISH
English
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Personal response
Text: The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Text type: Novel
I have read this novel recently for my younger sister. This novel is about a 14-year-
old girl, named Lily without mother. She is abused by her father. Lily ran away with her
nanny Rosaleen to South Carolina, after white racist attacked the later. On the journey, Lily
learns the truth about her dead mother. I love this novel as all the characters in it are depicted
to be resilient. The characters learn to cope up with various situational crises in life including
discrimination, physical pain, grief, abuse, and others. The author of the novel ensured that
no two characters in the book used same approach to cope with the stress. I agree with the
author’s viewpoint about racism that was greatly prevailing in America in those times. I liked
the positive aspect of the heavy issues dealt in the novel. As a child, I have experienced an
incident or two of violence and I always hated it. This novel made me empathise with the
sufferings of black people and their experiences of abuse and violence. I feel blessed about
today’s teenagers of New Zealand as they do not have history of racism. However, racism
towards Maori and witnesses cannot be denied but the severity of violence cannot be
compared to America in 60s. I feel lucky to be born in New Zealand.
I am inspired to take most outward approach as May in the novel to cope up with crisis. I do
also sing song like her “Oh Susannah” and express out the bottled anger once and for all.
May sounds much like me! I too do not believe in suppressing anger. I agree with the
author’s claim that one can be positive even in negative life event. The beautiful comparison
with beehive clearly justifies this claim. In author’s words “Bees have a secret life” and “the

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complicated life going on inside a hive”. I can relate these with my personal realisation in
high school. I realised that people are not the same as they appear from outside. In the end of
the text, Lily views the Boatwright sisters as strong women. The findings of Lily at the end
align with my ideas. It is to be strong and positive! Lily finally accepts May, June and August
as her own family. This coincides with my opinion that family is not limited to just mother,
father and cousins. Thus, the novel has spread several positive messages for its readers
perfectly blended with negative emotions like anger and grief.