Blog Entry #1 Chapters 1-3

Summary: 

The story starts off with Lily Owens, a 14 year old white girl, laying in bed thinking about bees. Lily starts thinking about how she killed her mother, Deborah,  at four years old. She dreams of heaven and being with her mother forever. Then the bees start to swarm around her and she runs to get her father, T. Ray. Just before  they returned, the bees had vanished leaving T. Ray very angry. When Lily was left alone, she started creating a scheme to catch the bees and prove to T. Ray that she wasn’t crazy.

When Lily’s birthday came, her black housekeeper, Rosaleen, took her into town to help Rosaleen register to vote. They walked for miles on end until approaching the worst neighborhood in town. A few white men playing cards, caught sight of them and started taunting Rosaleen. She spit on their shoes and they beat her up. The cops came and arrested both Lily and Rosaleen. When T. Ray came to bail Lily out of jail, he left Rosaleen and punished Lily. Lily blames her father for her mother leaving and he becomes furious. He recants by telling Lily that her mother ran away to leave both of them. Lily finally has enough of his tormenting and runs away. She saves Rosaleen from jail, and they head to Tiburon, South Carolina; a town where her mother lived.

During their first night in Tiburon, Lily and Rosaleen seek shelter by a body of water and talk about starting their new life. Rosaleen finds out Lily’s true intentions of running away and feels greatly offended. They have a harsh disagreement resulting in them separating. Lily becomes depressed and tries to look for Rosaleen only to find her sitting in a lake bathing her naked body. Lily strips her clothes off as well and joins Rosaleen. They apologize and sit in silence listening to the sound of the currents. The next morning reality sets in when both of them are starving and can’t find food. While Lily is still hopeful Rosaleen argues that not a single hotel will let a black woman stay with them. They finally come across a gas station that sells food and try to get direction to the house Lily’s mother visited.

Quotes:

The first important quote in this section is “This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away.” (Kidd 7).  Lily is mourning the loss of her mother, who she killed. This quote summarizes the loneliness Lily feels and how she would do anything to learn more about her mother. I thought this quote was beautiful because it explains the love and the loss between Lily and her mother. It reveals the regret that Lily has to live with for the rest of her life. Lily and Rosaleen heading to Tiburon, a place her mother lived, gives the idea that Lily is trying to find a piece of her mother.

The second important quote is “Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open.” (Kidd 42). T. Ray told Lily that the day her mother died she was planning on leaving Lily with T. Ray. This becomes a turning point for Lily because she believes her father is a horrible man has to runaway from him. I think this quote really signifies Lily’s decision to leave T. Ray. He has done everything to make her life miserable and now he has even degraded the one thing Lily truly cares about. This quote also relates to the bees. Lily caught the bees in a jar to prove to Rosaleen and T. Ray that the bees do exist. When she decided to let them go she opened the jar, but it took a minute for the bees to actually leave. She realize in that moment that her escape or “jar” is open as well.

“The third most important quote  of the novel is “Lily, child, there ain’t gonna be any place that will take a colored woman. I don’t care if she’s the Virgin Mary, nobody’s letting her stay if she’s colored.”” (Kidd 62). This quote emphasizes that there was still segregation. No place in the south accepted black people yet and this would be an obstacle that Lily and Rosaleen would have to face throughout the rest of the book. Reality sets in for Lily that she can’t just start a new life with Rosaleen. In a way she already knew this, but continues to look for a sign that will help her.

Imagery/ Symbolism:

In the beginning of the story the bees swarm around Lily. She watches in awe as the bees hover over, engulfing her body. The bees crowd until Lily can’t see through them and she continues to marvel at their beauty. This would create fear in my mind. I would have ran away screaming in terror!  I think this image has an affect on Lily because it resembles her own life. The bees swarming around to just feel the wind symbolizes Lily running away to feel free from T. Ray’s hatred. The bees are a symbol for the entire story which gives this image an even bigger meaning. This also appealed to many senses. I could hear the buzzing of the bees, see that thick cloud of black and yellow. It truly felt like there were bees buzzing around me, which captured my attention immediately.

Style and Rhetorical Devices:

Hyperbole- “I mean my father was Thomas Edison when it came to inventing punishments” (Kidd 42). This line was a complete exaggeration of her father, but it stressed Lily’s point that her father didn’t love her. He would say or do anything to make her feel miserable. If the author didn’t add the comparison of Thomas Edison’s famous inventing skills to her father’s inventions of punishments, the reader wouldn’t be as effected by the writing. Also this gives more insight as to why Lily ran away. Finding out her mother left her with T. Ray was a huge turning pointing the novel. Lily held her mom high  on a pedestal while T. Ray was a hateful commoner on the ground.

Paradox- “I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp way, her heart was more tender than a flower skin” (Kidd 11). During this part of the story Lily was explaining how much Rosaleen loved her. Rosaleen is an uncensored, strong woman who began taking care of Lily and grew close to her. Lily considers her the closest thing to her mom and only sees the goodness in Rosaleen. This piece of language captures the contrast of Rosaleen’s personality. As powerful as she seems, her love for Lily trumps all of that. The author gave a huge impression that Rosaleen is like Lily’s second mother and she would grow to love Lily more throughout the story.

Simile- “The text states “I dreamed the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., knelt down and painted my toenails with the spit from his mouth, and every nail was red like he’d been sucking on red hots””(Kidd 61). This simile really caught my attention because it is so outrageously funny. Rosaleen’s character  became my favorite because her thoughts are unfiltered and she will do anything she wants. Parts of her personality start to shine through and she becomes a more relatable person. The author surprised readers  when using this comparison because it seems so random and gives you a weird image in your head!

Imagery- “Water beaded across her shoulders, shining like drops of milk, and her breasts swayed in the currents. It was the kind of vision you never really get over. I couldn’t help it, I wanted to go and lick the milk beads from her shoulders” (Kidd 57). In this part of the story Lilly is describing Rosaleen bathing in the lake. This text was extremely descriptive and appealed to many senses. The readers can really picture the water on her shoulders. Adding the comparison to milk gave a sense of taste. Being able to hear how her breasts moved created an image that was vivid. The language gives off a more mature setting as well.

Point of view-” I worried so much about how I looked and whether I was doing things right, I felt half the time I was impersonating a girl instead of actually being one” (Kidd 9).  The author did an excellent job of sharing Lily’s feelings throughout the book. You can tell that Lily is frustrated and insecure about herself.  She doesn’t have a female figure that can guide her through the stages of womanhood. Lily goes on to explain how her father forbid her from wearing mature, female accessories and Rosaleen didn’t know a thing about fashion. There were plenty of cotillion events and clubs to join, but since Rosaleen was black Lily didn’t have a mentor to teach her. This message really conveys Lily’s attitude toward her personal femininity.

Theme:

There are many important topics in this novel such as freedom, racism, and love. Each one is interpreted differently by the characters. Lily wants to be free from her father. Not only has T. Ray never cared about Lily, he continuously punishes her for ridiculous reasons. When Lily finally runs away, she is no longer a prisoner. Freedom is also being fought for by the oppressed people. This is the era of the civil rights movements and blacks are protesting for equality. Racism plays a big role in this story because one of the reasons that causes Lily to run away was the injustice treatment of Rosaleen. Her love for Rosaleen grows as the story continues. Rosaleen is the only mother figure Lily has had and they both learn to lean on each other for strength. The love for Lily’s mom also has a great impact in this novel. Lily can’t fully forgive herself for killing her mother so she journeys to a place her mother fled to before she died. She hopes to learn more about her mother and try to move on from that horrible accident. I believe that the main theme is the  journey to freedom consists of love and hope.

Personal Response: 

I really enjoyed the first section of this book because it had to so many relatable yet interesting concepts. Having to read about a child searching for love was extremely heartbreaking and I couldn’t help but tear up inside. This story made me feel very grateful for everything I have today. While I have two loving and supportive parents, Lily has a housekeeper. I can go to school with different ethnicities without a problem, but Rosaleen had to go through a ridiculous amount of tests and obstacles just to apply to vote.  Even though this story is fictional there is still some truth in the overall idea.