“The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd

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In her novel “The Secret Life of Bees”, Sue Monk Kidd resorts to the classical method of characterization – that is, the novel’s main character acts as the protagonist. This allows an author to emphasize her story’s autobiographical overtones, thus adding a documentary value to “The Secret Life of Bees”. Also, Kidd’s method of characterization prompts readers to adopt Lily’s point of view on a variety of different issues as their own, because by assessing the objective reality through Lily’s eyes, readers become emotionally attached to the novel’s protagonist, even even though her way of responding to life’s challenges can hardly be referred to as altogether faultless. We can say that in her novel, Kidd strives to entitle Lily with the subtleties of three-dimensional character, by revealing the full scope of her psychological anxieties (this could only be done within the context of application a protagonist method of characterization), thus allowing readers to get an insight on the very essence of what causes novel’s main character to act in one way or another: “I lay back and closed my eyes. In my dream, I was back on the peach farm, sitting out behind the tractor shed, and even though it was broad daylight, I could see a huge, round moon in the sky. It looked so perfect up there” (Kidd 23). The fact that Kidd utilizes Lily as the channel to express her socio-political ideas helps us to get a better understanding of driving motifs, behind woman’s willingness to be closely associated with an ideology of feminism. In its turn, this increases the degree of the novel’s overall plausibility. This is the reason why literary critics consider “The Secret Life of Bees” as something so much more than simply a story of fourteen years old girls dealing with different existential challenges when the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum. In fact, by reading “The Secret Life of Bees”, we come to the idea that the variety of philosophical doctrines that became especially popular in recent years, such as New Age, with which Kidd continues to remain strongly affiliated, cannot be discussed outside of mental deviation, on the part of those who promote these doctrines.

The plot of this particular Kidd novel cannot be referred to as overly complex. Structurally, it consists of three main parts: intrigue (premise), culmination (climax), and resolution, even though, throughout the story, the author continues to provide us with flashbacks into Lily’s memory, which somewhat undermines the novel’s structural integrity. At the beginning of the novel, we learn of Lily’s psychological anxiety (her subconscious longing for the motherly figure), which eventually prompts Lily to leave T.Ray in the search of her true self, then the story proceeds to describe the rising tension between Black Madonna Sisters, White racists and Lily itself, which is being eventually resolved during Lily’s conversation with August, at the end of the novel, when Lily finally learns the truth about Deborah and when she decides to forgive her mother for abandoning its child (Lily). At the same time, given the novel’s high symbolism, it would be wrong, on our part, to suggest that semantic simplicity should be referred to as its main feature. As Rosellen Brown in her article “Honey Child” had rightly pointed out, the structure of “The Secret Life of Bees” can be compared to the structure of classical fairy tales: “Though it is never frivolous (novel), there is in it the sweetness and trust that things will work out in the end that one tends to see in comedy, not a tragedy; or perhaps, more appropriately, in the comfort of fairy tales that put their characters through harsh trials so that, every demon slain, they can triumph reassuringly over danger” (Brown 11). Thus, we can say that novel’s plot corresponds to Kidd’s tendency to assess the objective reality through the lenses of her highly developed sense of idealism.

While reading “The Secret Life of Bees”, we find ourselves being submerged in the atmosphere of the American South, at the time when racial prejudices were still affecting the lives of the majority of American citizens, regardless of the color of their skin. Partially, this can be explained by the fact that, throughout the novel, the author carefully chooses settings that serve as the background for the actual plot. It is not a pure coincidence that the public life in Sylvan and Tiburon is being described by Kidd as somewhat stagnant. The fact that the majority of residents in these towns appear as being incapable of opening themselves up to new ideas, corresponds well to the particular “laziness”, with which cars pass by Lily’s house in Sylvan and by her “existential refuge” in Tiburon. Every little detail in “The Secret Life of Bees” emphasizes the particularities of interracial relations between people in the American South, during the sixties, and the fact that beehives, incorporated into the plot’s background, are being mentioned numerous times, has one concrete purpose – to underline novel’s main idea that women’s “powers” are contained in their ability to lead a communal form of existence. We might agree or disagree with such a point of view, but it is quite impossible to deny Kidd her supreme literary talent – “The Secret Life of Bees” portrays the objective realities of living in the American South, during the sixties, with utter accuracy. We can only agree with Owen Gleiberman, who in his article “The Secret Life Of Bees”, suggested that Kidd’s novel can also be thought of as such that possesses a certain documentary value: “When you read The Secret Life of Bees, you know why the book sold 5 million copies. Kidd is a seductive writer, with a voice that carries just enough moonlight and magnolias to evoke the desultory Southern lyricism of To Kill a Mockingbird. Each character vibrates with mystery. Each setting is integrally incorporated into the plot itself” (Gleiberman 50). Thus, we can say that in “The Secret Life of Bees”, settings play a very important role, within the context of the author conveying a semantic message to readers.

Kidd novel’s main theme (motif) closely relates to author’s understanding of women’s existential mode as being fully independent in its essence, which contradicts a classical concept of women’s social role in society, as such that cannot be discussed outside of family relations. Author steps aside from traditional way of portraying a “female psyche” as being inferior, while compared to man’s rationality, and she does it in truly ingenious way, because unlike classical feminists, Kidd does not strive to prove women being as rational as men – quite contrary, it is because women are highly irrational beings that allow them to actually remain in close touch with divinity. In his article “Sex and the Sacred”, Lev Grossman says: “Secret Life revolved around an icon, a black Madonna. This time it’s a chair carved in the shape of a mermaid, a symbol of our spiritually amphibious nature, of the inner depths to which we must descend before we can solve the problems of our placid surface existence” (Grossman 69). Throughout her life, Kidd has been known as the ardent promoter of “spirituality”, even though that she could never come up with a rational definition as to what she means by this word. However, “The Secret Life of Bees” provides us with the answer to this question, because in it, Kidd praises spirituality as the reflection of women’s inner longing for emotional comfort. However, while doing it, Kidd unintentionally exposes such “spiritually” as being essentially the synonym for existential stagnation. Whereas at the beginning of novel Lily is being described as curious, cheerful and even somewhat aggressive girl, by the time she attains “inner peace”, in the community of Black women, we begin to doubt of whether she is going to be capable of broadening her intellectual horizons in the future, because in Kidd’s eyes, spirituality is something opposite to the concept of intellectual refinement as “Eurocentric” and therefore – evil. While taking care of bees, Sisters of Mary begin to act like bees themselves, while growing increasingly incapable of talking about anything but bees: “Was your Big Mama the one who taught you to keep bees?” August took off her glasses and cleaned them on the scarf at her waist. “She taught me lots more about bees than just how to keep them. She used to tell me one tall bee tale after another” (Kidd 140). Therefore, it will not be an exaggeration, on our part, to suggest that “The Secret Life of Bees” is the tale of what happens to people who willingly choose in favor of accepting an “insectisized” mode of existence, while naively believing that such type of existence is highly “spiritual”. While being interviewed on the subject on what was the main idea she wanted to express in her novel, Kidd had stated to following: “Hive is a feminine community, and that’s exactly what I was writing about in the pink house. It was like a hive of women who were trying to make something good out of their loss and sorrow, out of the struggles with civil rights, out of the pain that they live with. It’s like you take these holes life gives you and you make honey” (U.S. Catholic 2003). Apparently, Kidd’s spirituality had prevented her from realization a simple fact that nothing good can ever be made out of “loss” and “sorrow”, because it would violate the physical laws of nature. Thus, the main theme of “The Secret Life of Bees” clearly lacks the conceptual consistency, which partly explains the popularity of this particular Kidd’s novel specifically among the audience of bored housewives.

Given the fact that novel’s action takes place within the community of Black religious women, it would be naïve, on our part, to expect the literary style, utilized in it, to be marked with high degree of sophistication. However, we cannot deny Kidd her ability to write in clear and cohesive manner. In fact, it is author’s oversimplified writing style, which explains novel’s popularity more then any other factor. The novel is written in the form of dialogues that take place between Lily and her friends, with protagonist also indulging in lengthy monologues, in regards to morality and spirituality on numerous occasions, throughout the story, in order for readers to get an insight on the actual meaning of Lily’s conversations. Such form of storytelling was being consciously chosen by Kidd, because of its literary flexibility. Even though that there is plenty of evidence can be found in the novel, as to the fact that Kidd possessed a clear vision of plot, during the course of writing it, there can also be no doubt that author was spontaneously “adjusting” the behavior of its characters, in order for readers not to become bored with her promotion of “female communal morality” and with novel’s clearly lesbian overtones. In “Secret Life of Bees”, the references to bees serve as “conceptual cement”, because it is namely these references that entitle Kidd’s novel with moral wholesomeness. In his article “Book Review: The Secret Life Of Bees”, Vernon Chee says: “At the beginning of each chapter and from one of the characters in the story itself, we are presented with scientific facts about bees and life in a bee hive. Kidd weaves these facts like strands of wool in a beautiful quilt, metaphors in life” (Chee 2004). We can only agree with such suggestion – the metaphorical meaning of images of bees allows readers to interrelate different parts of novel to each other. At the same time, the fact that Kidd keeps on mentioning bees little too often, suggests that we cannot refer to her novel as simply the product of author’s spontaneous literary inspiration, because it appears that Kidd was striving to actually utilize her novel as the tool of promoting her rather unconventional political agenda.

Annotated Bibliography

Brown, Rosellen “Honey Child”. The Women’s Review of Books 19, 7 (2002): 11.

In her article, Rosellen Brown strives to define what caused Kidd’s novel to gain an immense popularity among readers, within a matter of comparatively short period of time, while coming to conclusion that it is namely novel’s “progressiveness”, which corresponds to its objective value more then anything else does. Brown suggests that it is quite inappropriate to discuss “The Secret Life of Bees” as literary work that has value in itself, because of its political sounding. Also, Brown refers to the fact that Kidd had paid utter attention to seemingly insignificant details, while writing her novel, as one of the main reasons for novel’s “attractiveness” in readers’ eyes: “We notice the attentiveness to details of a sensitive, empathetic observer”. Even though that many Brown’s statements (such as referring to “The Secret Life of Bees” as “revolutionary” and “groundbreaking” do not appear as being logically substantiated, we nevertheless agree with her description of Kidd’s novel as “emotionally comforting”.

Chee, Vernon “Book Review: The Secret Life Of Bees”. 2004. Blogcritics Magazine.

In his book-review, Vernon Chee briefly outlines novel’s plot and reveals his personal impressions from reading it, which appear as being quite intense: “I felt myself getting caught up in the lives of the characters”. The fact that Kidds clearly opposes feminine virtues to masculine ones (thus, promoting the concept of “war between genders”), does not seem to be of any concern to Chee: “I’ve heard how some readers found references to a Black Madonna offensive. In addition, other readers found the idea of feminine divinity, another topic prominently portrayed in the book, unpalatable. Neither of those subjects bothered me”. However, even though in his article Chee swears of being deeply touched by Kidd’s novel, we have doubts as to his intellectual integrity in this particular case, just as we have doubts about the popularity of “The Secret Life of Bees” solemnly deriving out of novel’s literary value.

Gleiberman, Owen “The Secret Life of Bees”. Entertainment Weekly. 1017 (2008): 50.

Gleiberman’s article explores the accuracy of cinematic version of Kidd’s novel and suggests that the producers of “The Secret Life of Bees” did a good job, while striving to instil the movie with novel’s original spirit. At the same time, Gleiberman appears to be quite dissatisfied with the fact that in the movie, Lily is being portrayed as much more independent, comparing to how Kidd describes her in the novel. Whereas in the novel “14-year-old Lily Owens escapes the clutches of her redneck father” (according to Gleiberman, White farmers from American South are all evil racists), in the movie, she leaves Sylvan simply because of her desire to learn more about Black people. Gleiberman suggests that such motivation for Lily’s actions cannot be thought of as being “radical” enough. Also, Gleiberman briefly analyses literary properties of Kidd’s novel, while concluding that novel’s seeming historical accuracy derives out of author’s ability to pay close attention to details.

Grossman, L. Sex and the Sacred. Time.165,14 (2005): 69.

In his article, Lev Grossman comes up with a psychological explanation as to “The Secret Life of Bees” popularity, by suggesting that in her novel, Kidd did something that has never been done before – she managed to “sanctify” female irrational sexuality as the ideological basis upon which a truly tolerant society must be based, which does not allow us to refer to her as feminist, in traditional sense of this word, because instead of trying to promote rationality as one of women’s psychological traits, she decided to dispose with such rationality altogether. In his article, Grossman refers to Otto Weiningers’ famous book “Sex and Character”, which contains empirical observations of high “religiosity” and “spirituality” among representatives of the most ancient profession – prostitutes. Whatever unlikely it might sound, it is namely prostitutes that have always been known for their religious zealousness and for their strive towards “transcendence”. In its turn, this brings Grossman to conclusion that Kidd’s promotion of female virtues, as self-sustained category, might actually correspond to Kidd not being entirely normal, in psychiatric sense of this word. This message in Grossman’s article can only be found between the lines, of course, because criticizing Kidd’s “masterpiece” openly would instantly win the critic a fame of “sexist”.

Flanagan, Mark “The Secret Life of Bees”. 2002. About.Com, Web.

In his review-article “The Secret Life of Bees”, Mark Flanagan attempts to analyze deep psychological reasons for Lily to decide to run away from her house with Rosaleen. According to Flanagan, Lily had left her father T.Ray, because he failed to love her with utter passion. In its turn, this causes reviewer to conclude that Lily decision was absolutely justified: “Did I mention T. Ray being a monstrous and abusive father?”. Nevertheless, author does not bother to explain why, at the end of the novel; Lily had grown to actually appreciate T.Ray, as the result of her realization of the fact that T.Ray did love her, although in his own unique way. The rest of Flanagan’s article, consists of standard set of accusations of “racism” and “sexism”, which he generously applies to White people in general, without even trying to substantiate his point of view logically.

Kidd, Sue Monk “The Secret Life of Bees”. New York: Penguin, 2003.

In her novel, Monk tells the story of fourteen years old White girl Lily, who was able to “awaken spiritually”, by venturing into semi-religious community of Black women and making it the place of her permanent residence. While socializing with Black women (who appear hard-working but religiously prejudiced), Lily learns a great deal about what the concept of tolerance stands for and eventually adjusts her own behavior to emanate “spirituality”. Lily also comes to realization that interracial marriages between Whites and Blacks should not only be legalized but that marrying someone outside of its own race represents a highly moral deed. Given semi-biographical essence of Kidd’s novel, we can refer to it is the story of “civil right activist” in making.

Wittstruck, Anna “The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd”.

In this article, Wittstruck describes what Kidd’s novel is all about; however, unlike critics that praise “The Secret Life of Bees” up to the sky, while failing to notice its inconsistencies, she actually comes up with a valid suggestion that, even though novel’s protagonist is a 14 years old girl, it is being written from perspective of a grown woman who appears to be physically attracted to other women: “The voice of Lily isn’t that of a precocious fourteen-year old white girl from an abusive, single-parent household; it’s the self-conscious voice of a revisionist, analytical author with a pointed agenda”. We can only agree with this statement – there is not “innocence” about how Lily perceives the surrounding reality, quite contrary, she makes judgments about things she could not possibly understand, because of her young age. The reason for this is simple – “The Secret of Life of Bees” has been conceived as the literary vehicle of political correctness from very beginning.

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“The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd

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