The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

In the Secret Life of Bees Kidd brings to us a touching narrative of a young white American girl as she comes of age in the south. Lily, the narrator, makes her journey in the middle of the 60s and the Civil Rights movement. As she tells her story of love, she takes the reader through the complicated maze of what it means to be challenged by the contradictions of racism: the use of black women to nurture white children juxtaposed against the physical brutality of ignorance, the trust placed in them to cook food justaposed against the need to keep them out of the stores, police who swear to protect the citizens justaposed against their willingness to condone violence. The story also exposes the psychological impact and the dangers of oppression.

The novel paints a portrait of the multifaceted personas of black women as they navigate the currents of the racist south. The sisters and the Sisters confront, protect, motivate, create and forge the paths of ambition, success, perseverance, and change in spite of and in the face of adversity. As their stories weave through the book, the reader is inspired by their strength.

August, June, and May, as spectacular as they are to this novel, are still periferal to the story. In a world filled with the residue of racism, designing a novel where the main character is white and the black women are periferal to the story might be seen as a reflection of that very racism. Lily character as compelling as it is as she draws out our empathy and sympathy is not made to seriously reflect on her own racism that is mentioned in the novel.

bell hooks, in reference to the novel, brings our attention to the fact that at the end of such work, the author expresses some issue within herself as she focuses on the unattractiveness of the black Mary statue. A critical look at the book brings out the contradictions in American society.

Religion is one of the themes in the novel. The writer assumes that the audience is familiar with the Christian religion. The Christian narrative of Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the angels must be familiar to the reader in order for he or she to grasp the irony and critique embedded in the story as the sisters tell their stories of Black Mary and participate in her worship.

The critical thinking instructor is able to explore the Civil Rights movement and various other historical events when using "The Secret Life of Bees." At the same time, students and instructor will have the opportunity to discuss and analyze human behavior as the characters deal with religion and interracial relationships.

by Bacchus