Are The Secret Life of Bees and The Feast of Love saying similar or different things about the power of love

Life of Bees

Both the Secret Life of Bees and Feast of Love explore the multiple manifestations of love. Whereas Feast of Love focuses more on romantic love, the Secret Life of Bees addresses all kinds of love, including the love of self, God, and family members. In spite of their differences, the Secret Life of Bees and Feast of Love share much in common. For one, both address the issue of race and how race-related social norms can impact love, expressions of love, and societal reactions to love. Second, both the Secret Life of Bees and Feast of Love illustrate the ways love can inspire and uplift the individual. Third, both stories also reveal a realistic side of love: love is difficult, love is painful, and love creates irreversible transformations of character.

Race is addressed with far more depth and sensitivity in the Secret Life of Bees than it is in Feast of Love. After all, race is a central theme in Secret Life of Bees, which is set in segregation-era South. In the era of Jim Crow, interracial love -- romantic or not -- was taboo. The Secret Life of Bees addresses multifaceted interracial relationships, including the bond between protagonist Lily and her housekeeper-turned-friend Rosaleen. The love between Lily and Rosaleen blossoms and matures as mutual trust develops. Each helps the other escape from Lily's abusive father, and both overcome the barriers to interracial friendship too. Likewise, Lily falls in love with Zach and so the social dynamic of an interracial love relationship is also explored. In Feast of Love, Harry and Esther are old enough to have experienced Jim Crow and so understand the stigma of interracial love.

Both the Secret Life of Bees and Feast of Love show how love inspires and uplifts individuals. Love is a positive force in both stories, helping Lily to love herself, trust others, and eventually fall in love with a potential life partner. Thus, in the Secret Life of Bees, love provides hope for a better future. In Feast of Love, love also provides hope for several of the characters. Harry and Ester use love to overcome grief, and Bradley never gives up hope that love can triumph over all adversity. As the author writes, "Every relationship has at least one really good day. What I mean is, no matter how sour things go, there's always that day. 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 have been the ones directed by sweet-natured hopefulness," suggests that love is often over-idealized (Baxter, p. 80). In Feast of Love, marital infidelity is dealt with and so are other forms of betrayal including the perceived betrayal of death. Similarly, death is dealt with deftly in Secret Life of Bees. When May commits suicide, the grieving process is an extraordinary expression of love by her sisters and also by Lily and Rosaleen. As Lily states, "People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life." (Kidd p.2). Romantic love and other kinds of love both ensure pain and obstacles ranging from societal barriers to personal resistance to change.