My essay!!

The Importance of Mothers in The Secret Life of Bees.

I’ve always had a mother. I’ve always had someone to guide me through life as I’m growing up. Unfortunately this is not something every girl has. Most of my friends have mothers, and fathers. Some of them are divorced, but they’re still there. Most girls come to their mom, when something is wrong. Some even tell their mom EVERY thing. I’m not very close to my mom that way, but we still have a special relationship.

This relationship is what makes mother and daughter moments magical. As I said not all girls have the luxury of having a mother, Lily Owens in The Secret Life of Bees, does not. She is thought to believe that she killed her mother herself by accident when she was little.

T Ray, which is her dad is not a good parent, and doesn’t show any love towards Lily. Lily is longing for her mother, longing for someone to love her.

And she wants to know if she really was loved child, or if her mother didn’t care about her like T Ray said.

I think every motherless girl, is longing for someone to be there. This is where Rosaleen comes in, Lily needs someone to be there for her and Rosaleen is there to love her.

The core of the story is Lily’s search for a mother.

Rosaleen becomes the “stand- in mother” in the story, and even though she doesn’t show it to much, you can tell that Rosaleen cares a lot about Lily. Lily is very mature for her age, and has never really had a chance to be the child. Sometimes Lily even talks to Rosaleen like she is the grown up herself. But when it comes down to it she needs Rosaleen to be there, and to be the one to love and take care of her. I think Rosaleen and Lily’s relationship really shows us the importance of mothers in the story.

Considering Lily has never had any real friends, the importance of a mother becomes even bigger. I cant imagine not having any real friends at school, and then come home to an unloving father who tells you that you killed your mother by accident as a child. Luckily Rosaleen is there to make Lily feel better about her self. Their relationship is developing through the book, their journey to Tiburon, South Carolina is teaching them a lot about each other. I think Rosaleen understands Lily’s love for her, when Lily decides to break her out of the prison/ hospital.

Lily’s desperate longing for her mother, makes the story interesting. It makes us feel sorry for her, and admire her for what she achieves even without her mother. Despite Lily’s hard work, to find out more about her mother and the truth, her mom cant possibly come back. This shapes the story a lot. This makes me want Rosaleen to be responsible for Lily. A 14 year old girl needs a parent!

That Lily hides her moms belongings from T Ray shows us how much she cares about her. You can tell that Lily imagines her mom to be perfect.

“Now and then I’d go out there and dig up the box. I would lie on the ground with the trees folded over me, wearing her gloves, smiling at her photograph.”

Out from this quote you can understand that she admires her and is who she wants to be.

I think Lily realizes later on, that it’s not only your biological mother, who can be a good mother. At first Lily thinks that no one can be as good a mother, as her own. But later on Rosaleen proves herself to be just what Lily needs. They’re relationship is kind of a best friend relationship mixed with a Mother and daughter relationship.

The funny part is that Lily’s act like the parent sometimes. She yells at Rosaleen, but most often Rosaleen overlooks it and keeps being stubborn.

When Rosaleen pours the Snuff- spit on those guys feet, you can tell that Lily thinks that was a ridiculous thing to do. Lily makes sure to tell Rosaleen that afterwards, and tells her that apologizing is the smartest thing to do.

She talkes to Rosaleen like a mother would talk to a daughter, but you can still see that Rosaleen is the mother figure.

After all, I would say Lily and Rosaleen, can be looked upon as a mother and a daughter.