The Secret Life of Bees- Final Essay

Every day we have things surrounding us that have a lot more in common than we think. It may be the way we act, move, look, or treat others. Two things that are completely opposite in appearance could have many similarities by how they go through each day. In many novels they will use these connections between objects to symbolize one another, adding effect to the story line. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the bees are used as a symbol to represent the lives of the woman.

The bee hives represent Lily and her life in the point of view of others, the way people see her from the outside. Lily is the hive, the bees are her feelings and the things that define her. The way the bees work to keep the hive running smoothly and produce honey is the same way Lily works and the honey is happiness. In a working hive, you can only see what’s going on from the outside, what happens on the inside depends on how much it wants you to see. Lily only tells people what she wants and the rest stays hidden and no one can tell what’s really going on. In the novel Lily goes through many obstacles to figure out the truth about her mother who died when she was only four years old. Lily is afraid of the results which causes her to tell lies and hide how she really feels to keep herself from getting hurt. August could tell there was much more to Lily than she was admitting to. She tells Lily about bee hives by saying, “Most people don't have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don't know anything about.” This was the same feeling she had towards Lily. Lily's problems began with her mother’s death but the strong role models around her pushed her through it, helping her to understand she can be just as loving, courageous and excepting even without her mother around.

The queen of the hive is a symbol of Lily's mother, Deborah. In every bee hive there is a queen bee who is the centre of everything and in the novel Deborah is the centre of Lily's life. Lily was lost without her mother with no sense of direction. In the novel Lily says, “My whole life had been nothing but a hole where my mother should have been, and this hole had made me different, left me always aching for something,” and she was unable to find her way in life. The things Lily did ever day were for her mother, even running away. She found the pink house trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. When Lily realizes that she has other motherly figures in her life who can help guide her along the way she becomes stronger and more independent wanting to make her life better. In a bee hive it is the same way, even when the queen bee is gone, another can come in and take its place. They may not be their blood mother but she can possibly be more. Lily will always miss her mother but by the end of the novel she does not have a hole where her mother is missing. She is overflowing with love from the people surrounding her. She says, “All these mothers. I have more mothers then any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me.” These women help Lily to understand the true meaning of love. The women in the pink house work together to not only help Lily but also their community.

The way bees work together to keep their hive running is a symbol of the the women in the pink house and how they work as a family. In the pink house each of the women have their own jobs that they have to complete to keep a running house. In a bee hive, things are the same way. At a point in the novel August tells Lily how bee’s work in their hive, she explains, “Every bee has its role to play”. She was helping Lily understand that if someone doesn’t do their job, the whole system falls apart. In a bee hive, one of the roles is the Queen Bee, who controls the hive. August is like the queen bee in the pink house. She is the one who controls things and keeps things flowing. There is also field bees that gather nectar and pollen for the hive, sort of like Rosaleen and May how they stay in the house and cook the meals every day. Without the two of them the house would go hungry. Like the other ways bees were used to symbolize the women, the way they work as a family in the pink house and the bee hives show the loved connection they all had.

Symbolism was used many times in the story The Secret Life of Bees. There were several moments when Sue Monk Kidd used the bees not just to be apart of the story but to symbolize women’s lives. In the novel, the way two things are connected can be difficult to spot, sometimes it is hidden beneath the text, you need to go deeper into what your reading in order to get the true effect. This is why symbolism is such a powerful way of writing.