Secret Life of Bees: The Not-So Secret

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 raised by an abusive father and the only maternal figure in her life is Rosaleen, the family's maid. Lily comes to form a connection with Rosaleen and other African-American women that is deeper than that which exists with her own flesh and blood. The novel suggests that race is only skin deep, and that individual human connections are more important than the divisions that are created by politics and social constraints. The novel continually draws parallels between the oppression all women suffer at the hands of men, and the oppression that blacks suffer at the hands of whites.

Rosaleen is not a stereotypical, submissive maid. Early on in the novel she strives to gain the right to vote, and is punished for her efforts. Lily and Rosaleen decide to run away because of their mutual suffering: Lily at the hands of her father and Rosaleen at the hands of whites. Lily's decision to break the law in search of her personal freedom parallels Rosaleen's struggle for justice and civil equality. Rather than portraying Lily's decision as bad or self-indulgent, the novel suggests that the young adolescent's actions are a necessary part of finding herself, just as necessary as Rosaleen's agitation for the right to vote. The abuse Rosaleen suffers at the hands of the authorities also parallels the abuse Lily's mother suffered at the hands of Lily's father until Deborah unsuccessfully tried to leave him.

Female connections become even more important later in the novel, as Rosaleen and Lily take shelter amongst a community of religious African-American women who raise bees. The fact that the Boatwright sisters take in Rosaleen and Lily highlight once again how amongst 'good people,' character rather than skin color is what is important. Lily develops a crush on the adolescent Zach, who helps the sisters and yet again the novel draws a connection between whites and blacks, between what Lily has endured in her life at the hands of her father and Zach. Lily was unjustly accused of murdering her mother, Deborah, when she was still a child and Zach is unjustly accused of beating up a white man. This creates a common connection between both young people, as well as the fact that they have been taken in by the sisters and have a mutual fascination and talent for beekeeping.

In a culture which usually prioritizes paternal relationships, The Secret Life of Bees suggests that maternal relationships are a source of personal empowerment in a manner that transcends race. What draws Rosaleen and Lily to the safety of the Boatwright clan are a memento of a black Virgin Mary and the name of the town amongst Lily's dead mother's possessions. The Virgin is herself a maternal figure. The sisters, along with Rosaleen, act in mothering roles in different ways, with Lily. Even after Lily reveals she was the accidental shooter in her mother's death, the sisters provide her unquestioning, absolute maternal acceptance.