Lily's Life Lessons

I really liked the book The Secret Life of Bees. My absolute favorite part of the book was in pages 290-300. It was in the second to last chapter that T. Ray came to get Lily from the house. When he got there, Lily maintained a nonchalant kind of attitude whenever he became serious. They eventually started arguing because Lily refused to go home with him. Rosaleen and August came to help support her in her decision. I think that T. Ray eventually got intimidated by the support that Lily got when the Daughters came into the honey house. They stood there like an army and said how much Lily would be better off without T. Ray.

One of my favorite quotes of the book was: "The four of them lined up beside us, clutching their pocketbooks up against their bodies like they might have to use them to beat the living hell out of somebody." I think there is such humor in a mere description of how they were standing. This quote created a great visual of how they came to Lily's rescue. The Daughters together created such love for Lily that she clearly didn't have before. I think that at the moment of the Daughters being with her she knew she wasn't alone.

I truly think that Lily has grown up throughout this book. Many life changing experiences have happened to her. She found out that she accidentally caused her mother's death. However, she has come to realize that she was little and did not do it on purpose. She also realized that although T. Ray doesn't seem to have a heart, he showed some compassion for her by not being so harsh when he was "shown-up" by the confident attitude of Lily. I think he realized that she was better off with people that cared about her and supported her as much as the Daughters did.

By: Katie M.