Both protagonists in The Secret Life of Bees (TSLoB) and To Kill a Mockingbird ( TKaM) are raised in a motherless household.Lily (TSLoB) and Scout (TKaM) live without their mother. When Lily was a child her mother and father were in an argument. Lily in an attempt to help her mother picks up a gun that had fallen to the ground. She is unable to comprehend how to properly operate the gun, and consequently the gun fires killing Lily’s mom. Scout loses her mother to an unexpected heart attack. Their fathers, Atticus Finch (TKaM) and Terrence Owens (TSLoB) knowing they cannot care for their child by themselves find a stand-in mother to assist them. T.Ray employs a woman from his workforce called Rosaleen. Calpurnia was already considered a family member by Atticus, …show more content…
Born around Finch’s landing, Calpurnia has known the Finch family her entire life. She is one of the few African American characters than is literate, having been taught by Miss Buford. The aunt to a neighbor to the Finch family, Miss Maudie Atkinson. When Atticus marries Calpurnia moves with him to his new home. After the death of Atticus’ wife Calpurnia stands in as a mother to the Finch children, Scout and Jem. Calpurnia’s role within the book is to be a guide for Scout, the main protagonist. One example is when Jem invites Walter Cunningham to eat at the Finch house. “...Walter interrupted to ask if there was any molasses in the house. Atticus summoned Calpurnia, who returned bearing the syrup pitcher. She stood waiting for Walter to help himself. Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He would have probably have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing.”(Lee 32) Immediately afterwards Calpurnia invites Scout to the kitchen, reprimanding Scout for her ignorance. “She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic. When in tranquility, her grammar was as good as
Mothering is the action of putting one’s child before herself, and preparing their child with the appropriate requisites, such as knowledge, they need in order to be successful human being. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout have been living without a mother for most of their lives; however, the two had a motherly figure in their household while growing up. Besides their father, Atticus, Calpurnia, the Finch’s cook and maid, has helped raise Jem and Scout since their mother’s death four years prior to when the book started. She is very loyal to the Finch's; Atticus sees her as part of the family. Throughout the course of the book, Calpurnia has been a substantial motherly figure towards Jem and specifically
In The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily lacks a mother figure in her life, which leads her on a compelling journey as she desperately searches for answers about her true mother. Her abusive father, T. Ray, causes Lily to run away along with Rosaleen, the housekeeper. They are led to the Boatwright household by one of the few things Lily still possesses from her mother, a Black Madonna Honey label. Lily is given the opportunity to create a mother-daughter type bond between her and the Boatwright sisters. August, one of the sisters, acts as the “queen bee” throughout the story. August teaches Lily that a mother does not have to be someone who you share blood with, but rather, a mother is
T. Ray from The Secret Life of Bees seems to be mean and horrible in the novel, but this essay proves otherwise. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd takes place in South Carolina during the Civil Rights Era, where Lily, the main character, lives. This time period is an important part of American history and many of the characters go through some dramatic changes and discover new elements of themselves. The focus of this essay will be on T. Ray, Lily’s father, who grows as a character throughout the novel, and is dishonest and controlling in the beginning of the novel. This is in view of the fact that T. Ray is very protective of Lily, but learns to let her go, realizing that she is better off with the Boatwright sisters.
The devastating tragedy of losing a person's mother at an early age can drastically affect that person's life. It can impact the way someone thinks, corresponds with others, and the way someone handles themselves emotionally. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens loses her mother at the early age of four. During Lily's journey she finds comfort and support in the women that she meets. Throughout the novel Lily goes through many changes because of the impact of the motherly figures of the Black Mary, Rosaleen, and the Calendar Sisters.
By utilizing character foil between Aunt Alexandra and Atticus, Lee was able to illustrate a contrast within the white society. In order to show how a typical white person would behave during that time, Lee introduces Aunt Alexandra to portray how most white people would act in Maycomb. “You all were coming back from Calpurnia’s church that Sunday? (Lee, 1960, p. 222)” This quote exemplifies how Aunt Alexandra is always discriminated against black people. She was shocked to hear about Jem and Scout going to black church with Calpurnia. While Calpurnia is portrayed as a well-mannered person who acts like a mother to Scout and Jem in this novel, Aunt Alexandra looks down on Calpurnia, because she was born with different skin color. In response to Calpurnia’s action, she told Atticus, “...you’ve got to do something about her... (Lee, 1960, p.224)” to discrete herself and to prevent Calpurnia from being in the same social class as her. While Aunt Alexandra symbolizes as a racial prejudice in this novel, Atticus is one of the characters that represents both a...
Themes such as motherhood, racism, and the bees’ hardwork are included in The Secret Life of Bees,written by Susan Monk Kidd, in order to show and highlight the hard times that the each character faced. This novel highlights Lily’s path from a child to young adult. She now sees with more clarity in subjects of racism and her new family. Her path started innocent and uneducated and ended up being very whole and educated. In Lily’s growth throughout this novel, her trials and tribulations were shown. In The Secret Life of Bees, there are many words and phrases referenced and used that stay full of wisdom, courage, and female
Discrimination is a powerful theme embedded into the story however, while aspect of this can be seen in the the treatment of Tom Robinson, it is Jean Louise’s ignorance as a child and her neglect for such details that display this and several other elements within the story. “Calpurnia is the housekeeper, cook and babysitter, but there are no clear indications of when her work days begin or end or how much she is paid for her services. As ‘part of the family,’ she is expected to be present most of the time, including Sundays when Atticus is away on business…” (Murray 85) Calpurnia helped Atticus in the raising of his children, but she was not their mother. Yet every time she was mentioned by Scout she was always at their house, details of when she wasn’t or if she even had a family of her own weren’t spared. While assumptions could be made that part of Jean Louise’s ignorance to mention such detail could be due to the fact she is reflecting on a childhood memory, the superstition could be quickly dismissed by reading both
As previously mentioned, the point of view in this narrative is from Scout. Her upbringing has been respectful to the African-Americans in her society and she shows this with her relationship with her maid, Calpurnia. Other children her age have adopted their parents' racially prejudice views, causing her of many problems. Atticus's lawsuit seems to isolate his children and Scout is taunted with remarks in the playground. Her only retort is violence and Atticus, as an virtuous father, does not condone this behaviour either: "My fists were clenched I was ready to make fly. Cecil Jacobs had announced the day before that Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers."
In most English classes it is a requirement to read a large number of short stories, novels, and poems but are any of them relevant to students in today’s society or are valuable to our education system? The books, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee show relevance in society today and is valuable to the educational system in 2017. The book, The Secret Life of Bees, is about a young white girl named Lily growing up in a time of the Civil Rights movement. Her mother died when she was little and her father is mean and abusive to her. Lily runs away from her father and goes to stay with three African American sisters who invite her and her house keeper, Rosaline, to stay with them for a while.To Kill a Mockingbird is similar to The Secret Life of Bees because of the time period but the stories and both very different. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a little white girl named Scout whose father is a lawyer. Her father, Atticus, is assigned a case where he has to defend a black man against a white man. The novel shows us how other people’s unwillingness to change can get people hurt or even killed. Throughout the book Scout discovers how important it is to stand up for other people and be kind to everyone because you never know what they are going through. The novels The Secret Life of Bees and To Kill a Mockingbird are both relevant in the world today and help
Scout initially lacks an understanding of her nanny Calpurnia; but after enduring a difficult experience, Scout learns who Calpurnia is and how she has helped her by being both a mother figure and a role model . Early in the novel, Calpurnia witnesses Scout criticizing the way her peer ate his lunch, and Calpurnia attempts to correct Scout’s poor behavior. Scout defends herself leading to a heated argument. After the fight, Scout vows that, “when [Calpurnia] wasn 't
Jem and Scout are going to Calpurnia’s First Purchase church for the first time. Jem and Scout are the children of Atticus, a prominent white lawyer in Maycomb, and Calpurnia is their African American cook and nanny. Scout, the narrator, is describing her less-than-flattering view
When Atticus takes Calpurnia to Tom Robinson's home, she has to sit in the back seat so as not to appear as Atticus's equal. She does not eat at the same table with the Finch family, although she has been a part of it since Jem was two. She is clearly loved by the family, but by no means is she their equal. " I said come here, nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me, I got a nickel for you."
The Secret Life of Bees delineates an inspirational story in which the community, friendship and faith guide the human spirit to overcome anything. The story follows Lily Owens, a 14 year old girl who desperately wants to discover the cause of her mothers death. Her father T. Ray gives her no answers, which leads their maid, Rosaleen, to act as her guardian. Together, Lily and Rosaleen run away to Tiburon, South Carolina and find a welcoming community. It is in Tiburon that Lily learns many life lessons, including many about herself. In her novel The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd explores a theme of spiritual growth through Lily's search for home as well as a maternal figure.
These two clash throughout the film because of Calpurnia’s expectations of being a “lady” and how Scout takes “being a girl” as an insult. In one brief scene that is not included in the film, Jem, the brother, is angry about the court conviction and asks Atticus why “there are no good people like us and Miss Maudie”, the Finches’ neighbor that is on the jury instead.
In the story “To Kill a Mockingbird” Scout is the main character from the story. She is a 7 year old child, who lives with her father Atticus and her brother Jim. Her mother die when Scout was just a baby girl. For this reason she lives in a single parent home. In the other hand, Maya the main character from the story “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” lives w...