What does may symbolize in The Secret Life of Bees?
As the picture, it symbolizes mothers and mother surrogates. Lily carries around a wooden picture of the black Mary, which she found among some objects that once belonged to her mother.
What is unusual about May in The Secret Life of Bees?
The youngest and strangest of the Boatwright sisters, May is an odd, mentally disturbed woman who becomes deeply depressed whenever anything tragic happens to anyone. Whenever a tragedy occurs, May writes it down on a piece of paper and slips the paper into a stone wall near her house.
Why did may kill herself in Secret Life of Bees?
May leaves the house and goes missing. August, June, Lily and Rosaleen go looking to find her and end up find her lying dead in the river with a rock on her chest. It looks to be a suicide, due to May’s depression from Zach being arrested.
What mental illness did may have in The Secret Life of Bees?
That night, August explains about May’s condition—that she feels the wrongs of the world as if they were her own—and the therapeutic purpose of May’s wailing wall, where she goes to cry. She then tells Lily the story of their fourth sister, April, and her early depression and suicide.
How did May Boatwright died?
May Boatwright commits suicide by drowning. Though it comes as something of a shock, May’s death is hardly a surprise. There’s something deeply symbolic in the manner of May’s death. She weighs herself down with a heavy rock just as the world itself always weighed heavily upon her shoulders.
What was wrong with May Boatwright?
Character Analysis May Boatright May was one of a set of twins, and her twin sister April committed suicide long before Lily came to the Boatright house. May also suffers from depression, and because of this, her sisters, June and August, keep an eye on her.
What happened to Lily’s mother?
Lily has a horrific memory that haunts her. Deborah, her mother, died on December 3, 1954, after a heated argument with T. Ray. She had accidentally killed her mother.
What is the thesis for the Secret Lives of bees?
Thesis Statement The recurring theme throughout “The Secret Life of Bees” is the importance of the mother figure to the maturation and growth of her daughter. When looking at this from a literary perspective rather than sociological, you become aware of the archetypal mother figure.
Is the Secret Life of bees a nonfiction book?
The Secret Life of Bees is Sue Monk Kidd ‘s first novel, following several acclaimed works of nonfiction. The novel follows Lily Owens in the summer of 1964 in South Carolina.
Who are the main characters in The Secret Life of bees?
The Secret Life of Bees has eight main characters: Lily, T-Ray, Deborah, May, June, August, Rosaleen, and Zach. Lily Melissa Owens is the narrator of the story. She is a white, fourteen year old girl with a late deceased mother and an abusive father who loves to write.
What is the structure of the novel, “Secret Life of the Bees”?
The Secret Life of Bees has a linear structure. This means that the action in a story follows a straight chronological line. There are sections in which we learn about the past, which is central to the story’s plot, but we see the past through the “present” narration of Lily, Rosaleen, and August.