Critical Lens/ Literary Theory: Strong & Beautiful…

“women made the best beekeepers ’cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting.”

― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

Nowadays it seems as though feminism is at an all time high and stronger than ever, but the unity of women to stand up and fight for a common goal is nothing new. Dating all the way back to 1848 for the women’s suffrage movement, the equal pay act in 1963, the fight for abortion rights in the roe v. wade case in 1973, and more recently the #metoo movement that began in 2006 and is still prominent today. 

Feminism is a huge leading role in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees which is set in 1965. Kidd highlights the leading meaning of her novel by using and challenging the roles of females. The women in this novel challenge the common day stereotypical idea that females are to have a male in their life preceding the role of dominance for the females.  Independent from a male, each female in this novel has some sort of influence on the other that helps them overcome their battles together. 

WARNING: NOVEL SPOILERS BELOW ! ! !

When looking at The Secret Life of Bees from a feminist approach, it is easily percieved that all the female characters have grown into a lifestyle that is better off without male dominancy. We first see this in the novel with the main character, Lily, who lives with her father, T. Ray, and caretaker, Rosaleen, after Lily’s mother died. After the passing of Lily’s mother it was quite apparent how the role Lily’s father had in her life was only causing her more harm than good. As Lily continued to grow up a void where she lacked a mother grew in Lily’s heart, and always left her longing for something to “complete” her. 

“… my whole life had been nothing but a whole where my mother should have been…”

As a result of this Lily grew into great insecurity and low self-esteem and always felt as though she was different or insufficient because she had no feminine guidance or encouragement. 

“[Lily] You can tell which girls lack mothers by the look of their hair.”

Once Lily made her way to Tiburon, South Carolina and met August, June, and May Boatwright she began to flourish and thrive like never before. A common stigmatism about female’s is that they need a male figure in order to keep hold of the reins that control a female’s life and that they would rather sit back and let the male figure provide all the support. Kidd demonstrates a point of view that challenges this idea with the ring of feminine support that surrounded Lily and acted as the catapult for Lily to begin living her best life that she was not going to recieve from a male role. 

“… he [T. Ray] was saying, Oh Lily, you’re better off there in that house of colored women. You never would’ve flowered with me like you will with them”(Kidd 300). 

Upon the entrance of these three new female figures in Lily’s life, the introduction of the metaphorical figure, black mary of guidance and strength, serves as a catalyst that change of self-perception that Lily needed. 

“[August] Our Lady is not some magical being… she’s something inside of you.”

The extensive amount of maturing that Lily had to do at such a young age caused growth in her strength and confidence to be stunted. Most children in Lily’s age group never had to face the things she went through at her age, but the truth that she couldn’t see for most of her life, was that she always had this strength inside of her, she just needed to have confidence in her own qualities. 

“[August] You have to find a mother inside yourself.”

The female empowerment Lily came into allowed for her truest inner personality, that didn’t get the chance to fully thrive after her mother’s passing, to be unlocked. This authentic makeup of Lily’s consisted of life changing courage, an anchored faith, and an unexplainable amount of love for all those around her. Lily’s life had always been defined by her mother’s death and her personal growth was a reflection of that. After her connection to female figures in her life she was finally able to see herself in a new light. When reviewing this from a feminist approach the authors running motive throughout the novel is revealed. Throughout The Secret Life of Bees Kidd plays on the importance of female empowerment between women to show the life changing effects that can come as a result, as seen through the main character Lily.

Citations