I like to see the formation of relationships between the main character and others as I am reading a book. The Secret Life of Bees is about a girl, Lily Owen, who wants to find out about her deceased mother’s past. Lily doesn’t go alone though. She decides to take her “stand-in mother” Rosaleen . The two girls know how to survive for a while and end up right where they needed to be. Lily and Rosaleen know each other very well. Lily was practically raised by Rosaleen. The author uses a lot of saying to describe just how much Rosaleen loves Lily and Lily loves Rosaleen. They were able to show each other a side of them that no one else could ever see. “I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason.” No matter what Lily did, Rosaleen was there to pick her up.
Color didn’t matter to Lily. Rosaleen was just a house maid, but to Lily she was much more. While reading this book, I could feel Lily’s pain. She wanted so badly for Rosaleen to always be there and make everything alright. Being without a mother, Lily hung on to anything that gave her love or even comfort. Lily wished that color wouldn’t be such a barrier between her and the dreams she had for Rosaleen. “I used to have daydreams in which she was white and married to T. Ray, and became my real mother. Other times I was a Negro orphan she found in a cornfield and adopted. Once in a while I had us living in a foreign country like New York, where she could adopt me and we could both stay our natural color.”
I think we have all experienced a time where we wished someone that was not blood related to us, to be a permanent part of us. I know that when I was in Elementary School, I really looked up to my meal time buddy at the Boys and Girls Club. Her name was September and she was such a nice and peaceful person. I sometimes wonder where she is in life and if I made a difference in her life like she did to in mine.
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| Lily and Rosaleen |
This reminds me of a friend that I had in Elementary school. Her name was Jessie and we were practically joined at the hip! Then she had to move in Third Grade, I don't see her very often, but we still talk.
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