67). Bees creating "wreaths around her head" is adding another image to the element of honey and bees. In the ancient Greco-Roman world people wore wreaths as an indication of their rank in society, or their status, or their occupation. Apollo wore a wreath of laurel on his head, according to the literature. Laurel is used today when Olympic medals are given out, to pay homage to the original Olympic Games and the champions that trained so hard to achieve glory. And the Romans copied the Greeks by using laurel wreaths as symbols of achievement in the arts, I literature, education and government. Ovid, probably the most well-known poet in ancient Rome, is often pictured with a laurel wreath in his hair.
Because August has a cloud of bees circling her head like a wreath, readers can assume that Kidd created that image for a reason. In fact August disappears briefly because the wreath of bees is so thick, but gradually August comes back into focus "…like a dream rising up from the bottom of the night." For Lily, finding these women beekeepers must have been like a dream that rose up from the pits that represented where she used to live and the father that used to make her kneel for hours in the grits.
Elements of Fiction (Civil Rights): In Garrine P. Laney's book The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Historical Background and Current Issues, the author explains that various Supreme Court decisions that led up to the Civil Rights Movement had not been favorable to Blacks. When Blacks went about trying to vote, as Rosaleen did, the racist white authorities would do everything they could to block Blacks from having that opportunity to vote. As was mentioned earlier in this paper, one of the strengths of Kidd's book is that it ties in with the real history of the South in the Sixties. Laney points out that blocking Blacks from voting wasn't a new form of injustice,...
Members of these groups interact with members of the Giro groups. The images that link these "spirit groups" (Shapiro, p. 832) are "maintained and codified through the agency of the symbols of blood, oil, honey and water." The rituals go well beyond "what Catholicism teaches" and indeed through these cultural activities the participants are rejecting Catholicism (which Lily certainly was doing in Kidd's novel) and saying that slaves have
Secret Life of Bees Taking place in the vicious American South in 1964, the era of the Civil Rights Act and increasing racial resentment, Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees is an plausible story not just about bees, but of the coming-of-age story, of the gift of love to transform our lives, and of the often misunderstood desire for comparable women and human rights. Even though this novel is
Secret Life of Bees: The Not-So Secret Life of American Racism The 2003 novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd could be subtitled: 'the not-so secret life of American racism.' Set in the deep south during the Civil Rights era, the novel chronicles the childhood of the motherless Lily and her coming-of-age to a greater state of emotional maturity. At the beginning of the novel, Lily is being
Though her mother had passed, there would be maternal, familial and nurturing love to be found in the warmth and kindness of those whom she would meet here. With the Black Madonna photograph as a compass and the pressures of the changing Civil Rights climate as a motor, Lily ultimately had found personal redemption in the implications of both. It is no matter of coincidence that the author so aggressively
That day is always in your possession. That's the day you remember," (p. 97). Thus, both stories keep alive the romantic vision of love as a positive and enduring force. The most extraordinary aspect of both of these stories is the way in which love is portrayed realistically. Love is never easy, whether between interracial couples, between parents and children, or between lovers. For example, "The worst mistakes I've made
Sue Monk Kidd's book, The Secret Life of Bees, is a testament to the healing power of love in a young girl's life. Lily, was left motherless at four, and blames herself for her mother's death. The book is deeply moving and beautifully written, especially through Kidd's treatment of the loss of Lily's mother. Personally, the book reinforced my understanding of the important role a mother plays in her child's
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