The Secret Life of Bees: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Secret Life of Bees" explores the lives of several major characters, primarily focusing on Lily Melissa Owens, a fourteen-year-old girl dealing with the trauma of her mother’s death and her troubled relationship with her abusive father, T. Ray. After freeing her African American nanny, Rosaleen, from unjust imprisonment, Lily flees to a honey farm in Tiburon, South Carolina, where she seeks solace and understanding. At the farm, Lily is taken in by August Boatwright, a wise and nurturing beekeeper who helps her confront her past and teaches her the art of beekeeping.
The novel also features other significant characters, including May and June Boatwright, August's sisters, who each embody different responses to grief and love. Zachary, a young African American boy who works at the farm, becomes a source of romantic interest for Lily, highlighting the racial tensions of the time. The relationships among these characters underscore themes of love, loss, and resilience in a racially divided society. Through their interactions, the story interweaves personal quests for identity and belonging against a backdrop of social injustice, making it a poignant exploration of human connections.
The Secret Life of Bees: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
First published: 2002
Genre: Novel
Locale: Sylvan, South Carolina; Tiburon, South Carolina
Plot: Bildungsroman
Time: 1964–1965
Lily Melissa Owens, the fourteen-year-old daughter of T. Ray who is trying to come to terms with her mother's death. A white child, Lily frees her African American nanny Rosaleen after she is unjustly imprisoned, and she runs away from home both to help Rosaleen and to flee her abusive father. She struggles to come to terms with the fact that her mother left her, and worse, Lily fears that she was responsible for the gun accident that killed her. She and Rosaleen escape to the Boatwright honey farm in Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily learns beekeeping and eventually opens up to August about her mother. She also falls in love with African American boy named Zach, who opens her eyes to the tense racial relations of the time. With August's help, Lily eventually learns to face the truth of her past and stand up to her father, winning herself a permanent place at the honey farm.
Terrence Ray “T. Ray” Owens, Lily's ornery and quick-tempered father and the white owner of a peach farm. He makes Lily work at a roadside stand selling peaches and punishes her for various things by making her kneel in grits. He resents Lily for looking like her mother, whom he loved deeply. Lily is convinced he does not love her, however, and that he only loves his dog, Snout. When Lily runs away, he searches everywhere for her, but when she calls him on the phone, he is concerned about what other people will think about her absence rather than Lily's well-being. T. Ray comes to August's farm to bring Lily home, but Lily stands up to him and August asks him to let her stay, to which he concedes.
Deborah Fontanel Owens, Lily's late mother who had curly black hair. She married T. Ray after learning she was pregnant with Lily. She had a mental breakdown when Lily was about four years old and left her husband and child to go live at August's farm for six months. She returns to T. Ray's house to get her things and Lily. She gets into an argument with T. Ray, and Lily, wanting to help her mother, picks up a gun and accidentally shoots her.
Rosaleen Daise, a round-faced African American woman who works as a housekeeper and nanny for T. Ray and Lily. She was originally employed picking peaches at T. Ray's farm, but she was brought in to help raise Lily after Deborah's death. Rosaleen has an argument with three white men on her way to town to get her voting card, and although they attack her, Rosaleen is arrested and beaten. Lily sneaks Rosaleen out of jail, and they run away together to August's honey farm. There, Rosaleen makes friends with August's sister May. Refusing to let her experience keep her from her goals, she gets help from the African American community and finally registers to vote.
August Boatwright, a kind and patient African American beekeeper who makes Black Madonna Honey on her farm, which she runs with the help of her two sisters, June and May. She was a housekeeper for Deborah when she was little and shelters Deborah when she runs away from T. Ray. August runs a group called the Daughters of Mary, who worship the Virgin Mary. She takes in Lily when she runs away from home. Though Lily lies about her name and her history, August sees through it and gently tries to push Lily to tell the truth. In the meantime, she teaches Lily all about beekeeping.
June Boatwright, August's sister who has short gray hair and always seems very stern. She does not like Lily when she first arrives, but she grows to accept her. June worked at a funeral parlor before coming to the honey farm and now plays her cello at the local hospital to soothe the patients there. She was once left at the altar and so she refuses to marry despite the frequent proposals of her longtime boyfriend Neil. However, May's death convinces her to finally accept his hand and find happiness.
May Boatwright, August's sister who wears her hair in short braids and suffers from depression that causes her to become upset very easily. After the death of her twin sister, April, she takes others' pain as her own, and she starts to hum the song “Oh! Susanna” when she is about to break down. May builds a wall around her home to help her calm down, and she adds to it whenever bad things happen. Unable to handle the news that Zach has been sent to jail, she goes out to the river and drowns herself.
Zachary “Zach” Lincoln Taylor, a thin, broad-shouldered African American high school junior who helps August around the honey farm. He gives Lily a notebook as a gift, and the two slowly develop feelings for one another. Zach is thrown in jail after refusing to give up one of his friends who threw a bottle at a white man, but is released with the help of Tiburon lawyer Clayton Forrest. Zach aspires to become a lawyer some day.
April Boatwright, May's twin sister who committed suicide with her father's shotgun when she was fifteen.
Avery “Shoe” Gaston, the white police officer who imprisons Rosaleen.
Mrs. Henry, Lily's teacher who encourages her to pursue her interest in becoming a writer.
Becca, Clayton Forrest's daughter who befriends Lily and Zach.