Lily is a
fourteen-year-old white girl
born on the Fourth of July in 1950. When she was four, she accidentally killed her mother, Deborah. Along with her abusive father, T. Ray, whom she cannot call “Daddy,” she lives on a peach farm in rural South Carolina.
How would you describe Lily Owens?
Lily is the main character,
protagonist, and narrator of her story
. She is a fourteen-year-old white teenager growing up in Sylvan, South Carolina. When Lily first appears, she is beaten down, abused, and misused by her brutal father.
Is Zach Black in The Secret Life of Bees?
Zach Taylor serves as a type of foil for Lily. Born and raised in Tiburon, and never without the love and support of the Boatwright sisters, he has grown up with many advantages. However, as a black man in the mid-century South,
Zach is at a disadvantage
. …
What is Lily like in The Secret Life of Bees?
As a character, Lily’s two most important traits are
her determination and her longing for maternal love
. Lily finds a mysterious font of confidence after her fourteenth birthday and after she sees Rosaleen confront a group of racist men in Sylvan.
What race is Lily in The Secret Life of Bees?
Plot. Set in 1964 in the fictitious town of Sylvan, South Carolina, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of a 14-year-old
white
girl, Lily Melissa Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. Lily lives in a house with her abusive father, whom she refers to as T …
Why did Lily’s mother leave her?
She left August to go back to Sylvan and get her daughter. Lily then recounts how she shot her mother once she came home. Bitter and disillusioned, Lily is done and wants to sleep. August explains that she needs to forgive her mother and that people aren’t perfect: Her mother tried to make things right.
Why did JUNE not marry Neil?
Expert Answers
June continues to reject Neil
because she was about to marry someone else but was left at the altar
. According to May, “June swore off men and said she would never get married” (page 152).
How did Lily’s mother died?
Lily has a horrific memory that haunts her. Deborah, her mother, died on December 3, 1954,
after a heated argument with T. Ray
.
Why does Lily hate her father?
As fans get to witness in later seasons, Lily resented her father ever since
she was a kid due to his constant obsession with discovering the next big American board game
, leading him to constantly neglect her.
Does Lily forgive T Ray?
She attains some emotional closure, and, although he leaves without actually uttering any companionate words to her,
Lily is able to forgive him for being a flawed man
just the way she forgave her mother for being a flawed woman.
What is Lily philosophy of life?
Some of these philosophies include her perspective on
racism, female power, and her mother
. Thanks to the Boatwright sisters, Lily seems to find a way to escape her father’s reign of terror and learns more than what she learned from her father. Racism and prejudice is an important theme in this novel.
What event causes Lily to realize Rosaleen really loves her?
What event caused Lily to realize Rosaleen really does love her?
When she stood up to T. Ray when Lily wanted to have the pet chick.
Who is Lily’s best friend at school?
- Judy.
- Rosaleen.
- She does not have any friends at school.
- She does not go to school.
Where is Lily’s mother buried?
Lily keeps everything she has of Deborah’s in a small tin buried
in the orchards
: a photograph of her mother in front of an old car, a pair of white cotton gloves, and a small wooden picture of a black Mary with the words “Tiburon, S.C.” written on the back. She digs up this box when she is feeling lonely or sad.
What does Lily say is the secret to a good lie?
The secret of a good lie is don’t overly explain, and throw in one good detail (4.86). … Although Lily’s tendency to lie is hardly presented as a great thing, secrecy is her way of ensuring privacy and protection. ‘
It’s your secret . . . You do what you want with it
‘ (4.112).
What does Lily’s father do for a living?
Lily, a fourteen-year-old white girl, lives alone with her father,
a peach farmer
, in Sylvan, South Carolina. As the novel opens, she lies in bed, waiting for the bees that live in the walls of her bedroom to emerge and fly around, as they do most nights.
