June's merry is because the death of May

I do not agree with palmers idea which is June merry Neil is because millions of asking, if may is not die,i do not think that she will merry him even he ask trillions of times,because that may's death make her clear that she should treasure every thing that she has now, I think that is the reason why she merry Neil .any one has different ideas?

I still don't know how did his father find her,could any one answer my question?

Why he didn't bring her home

I am wondering as T Ray's character ,why he didn't take lily home and let her to be on the grits and just let her to be n august 's homeland why at the end he tell lily that her mom go home is just peaking is not true,her mom go home for her?isn't him always not nice to lily?

August's and Lily's talk

Was anyone surprised that August had known that Lily was Deborah's daughter? I had my suspicions but I didn't think that she knew right away.  Also who thought that August had worked for Lily's mom growing up?  That was a huge shocker to me.

Lily's Mothers

In the last paragraph of the book Lily describes that she recognizes every day that she has many mothers, The Daughters of Mary. This a perfect way to end the book. The whole novel builds perfectly up to this moment. When Lily realizes that that she has been searching for the truth about her mother but doest need her mother, but her new mothers that she has found in the process. Do you think that the ending of the the book was satisfactory? I certainly do! I just enjoyed how the entire book unfolded perfectly into the the final moments when she learns that she has all the mothers she needs.

Mouse Bones

It seems bizarre that Lily carried around those mouse bones for a while. I know that the book described why she was carrying the bones around, but do you guys think they could symbolize something else, maybe something to do with Deborah?

Chapter 11 Quote

The quote says "It takes honeybee workers ten million foraging trips to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey".
I am not certain on the meaning of this quote but my best guess would be that this refers to how many times Neil asked June to marry him and after many many times of asking he finally got a yes.  If you guys have a different view please comment.

T-Ray

Will Lily have a change of heart for T-Ray now, knowing that her mother did leave her?

Chapter 10 Quote

The quote says "A bee's life is but short.  During spring and summer- the most strenuous periods of foraging-a worker bee, as a rule, does not live more than 4 or 5 weeks... Threatened by all kinds of dangers during their foraging flights, many workers have died before they have reached even that age".
I assume you all would agree with me that this quote is referring to how May died when she was so young and that not all people live to their expected ages.  If anybody has a different opinion please comment.

August and Lily

August already knew that Lily was Debra's daughter as soon as she walked into the door of the sisters' house. Do you think the way she treated Lily would've changed if she didn't know her mother?

Chapter 9 Quote

The quote says "The whole fabric of honeybee society depends on communication on an innate ability to send and receive messages, to encode and decode messages".

Do you guys think that this quote correlates to how Lily is keeping her phone call home to T Ray a secret from Rosaleen and how she isn't telling the sisters about her mother? 

Does T-ray loves Lily?

I think her father still love her because he let her stay in August's house, and go back to home alone. He could take lily go back to home, but he doesn't. He saw lily's change and he respects lily and August. So he let lily stay there. And he also know that he won't give lily a loving warm family, lily stay in August's house has more people to love her, and lily will became a normal girl, and she'll knows how to love people. She has more people like her mother to love her, she should growing up in this environment.

Chapter 8 Quote

The quote says "Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the hive, but also require it's social companionship and support.  Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die".
In the chapter August tells Lily about how she chose the color of the house.  She said that May wanted it, but that it was the hardest choice for her to choose it.  She says that people know whats right but just don't choose it.  Do you think that anything like this had a part to play in May's death?

Chapter 7 Quote

The quote from chapter 7 is "how did bees ever become equated with sex?  they do not live in riotous sex life themselves.  A hive suggests cloister more bordello". 
First of all does anyone know what riotous, cloister, and bordello mean?  Secondly when the quote asks how they become equated with sex, does this have something to do with Lily and Zach? Was it foreshadowing what was going to happen between them?

Lily's mother

The entire book has been focused around Lily's literal search for her mother and then the search for the truth about her mother, but what does she think of her now compared to then? She always hoped she was the perfect mother and that she had at least one parent that cared about her, and for a while she started thinking that wasn't true. But as it turns out the truth is more complicated and her mother had her own problems, so now that Lily's illusion of the perfect mother is broken what is she thinking? Her "mother/hero figure" is sort of gone as a result of the truth.

Chapter 6 quote

The quote in chapter 6 says "The Queen must produce some substance that attracts the workers and that can be obtained from her only by direct content.  This substance evidently stimulates the normal working behavior in the hive.  This chemical messenger has been called "Queen Suubstance".  Experiments have shown that bees obtain it directly from the body of the queen."
First of all do you all agree with me that August is the Queen?  Secondly, what do you think is the "substance" that everybody gets from August?

Is Zack family, a friend, or a boyfriend to Lily?

When Lily talked to Zack she said he was both a boyfriend and family to her, but which matters more to her? She already has family figures in August, Rosaleen, June and possibly T-Ray so will she believe what Zack says about waiting for things to change and then having a relationship? Personally I think that makes the most sense in terms of whats happened so far but what do you guys think?

Zach wanting to be a lawyer

Zack talks a lot about his desire to become a lawyer and but my question is why? Its hard to tell whether he wants to do it more out of a need to change the world and get racial equality, but at times it seems like he just wants to do it for revenge and hurting the people who are responsible for unfair laws. It does seems like a mix of both but which matters more to him?

death?

Do you think T-Ray was telling the truth when Lily runs out to his pick up truck and asks him for the last time the truth about her mothers death. What do think really happened?

Will Lily visit T-Ray or will she cut all ties with him?

Going back to my post about if Lily will miss T-Ray, I wondered what would happen with Lily and T-Ray. Will Lily miss him and visit him everyone and a while? Or will she just leave him forever and forget about him? I think that Lily will visit T-Ray but what is everyones opinion about this?

I think its more significant then it shows the way August speaks to T-Ray in that heated situation. T-Ray is a tempered man and she knows that but i think the symbolism in that situation is you can get anything in the world but its all how you frame the question. Any thoughts?

Quotes at the beginnings of Chapters

I haven't really seen many people talk about the quotes at the beginnings of the chapters and how thy correlate with what is happening in the book so I'm going to make a few posts about them starting a little ways back in the book.
I'm starting way back in chapter five.  The quote says "Let's imagine for a moment that we are tiny enough to follow a bee into a hive.  Usually the first thing you would have to get used to is the darkness...".  If you can remember this is one of the early days of them being at the pink house and June is a little bit hostile towards Lily staying there.  Do you think that this is the darkness that the quote refers to or do you think that it refers to the Unknown in the house and the way that the sisters live?

Mother inside of Lily

What does August mean when she tells Lily that she has to find a mother inside of herself? Does she mean that like she needs to be responsible and start to become more independent? What does she mean I am so confused.

Do you think Lily missed the point of Her and Augusts conversation about Lily's Mother. She is so worked up that her mom "left her" when really thats not the point. Any thoughts?

Lily's Shoes

If you were in Lily shoes how would you feel? Would you be able to forgive your mother? What would you do with T-Ray, what would you say to him?

Lily talks to zach about his anger

when Zach admitted that he was angry with racism and Lily told him that she wanted him to work on not being angry so that he doesn't end up being a bully. I don't think that Zach would ever bully I just think that he would defend himself because of last incident with his friends. his character is to good that I don't think he would bully out of anger. do you guys think that he would bully?

The box of Deborah's things

As I read the part in chapter 13 when August and Lily were looking at the box with Deborah's things, I couldn't stop wondering if seeing her mothers things, made Lily miss her? Or feel some sort of connection with her? After being mad at her and throwing the honey jars at the Mary, did seeing her mother's things make Lily less mad at her mom, or just make her forget about being mad at her mom?

Lily's Feelings About the Truth

Lily has always hoped that Deborah was the most caring perfect mother. However, when she finds out from August that T-Ray was telling the truth about her leaving it angers her. Lily precedes to through a tantrum in the honey house and semi-destroy it.  For reasons unknown to me I always believed that Lily would never feel anger toward her mother. Contrary to what I thought she did have anger after gaining knowledge of what her mother did to her. It seems to me that August predicted that she would feel this emotion of anger. August brings Lily her mothers box as if knowing the picture of Lily and Deborah would comfort Lily. Do you believe that August knew and predicted that Lily would respond this way or it was just August revealing more information to Lily about Deborah and it just happened to ease Lily's emotions toward her mothers actions?

Is T-Ray still Lying to Lily About Deborahs death?

I really doubt that Lily shot her mother. Like T-Ray still keeps telling her that she shot her mother but is it because he wants to place blame to make himself feel better? Maybe i feel like this because i don't want to believe that Lily killed her mother. What does everyone think?

Lily searching for signs

during chapter 10 Lily wanted a sign from her mother that would let her know that her mother loves her. in chapter 11 she walks in the woods for signs of her mother. and I was thinking that maybe it wont be a spiritual sign but a sign from like the sisters or maybe Zach, a sign that would make her happy. what kind of sign do you all think she will get? and if she gets a sign do you think she will find out a little bit of her true colors?

Lily's attitude towards her mother

It is clear now that Lily does not have a positive attitude towards her mother. She has learned a lot about Deborah's past from August, and my question is if Lily is taking it in the wrong way? Did she just jump to the conclusion that her mother left her because of the information she has, and she isn't thinking about the information that is still out there that T-Ray and August didn't know about? Or is she just not looking at the fact that her mother did come back to get her and didn't forget about her?

The Calendar Sister's religion

To add on to what Teagan said about the Calendar Sister's religion, I was wondering if honey had some type of meaning in their religion? Is honey their water? Or do they just use it because it is what they make? What do you guys think?

Mouse Bones

In Chapter 14 Lily keeps carrying around mouse bones she found. What do you think the significance in this is? I'm really not sure. Just another thing to keep her mind of her mother?

Lily and Zach's relationship

In chapter eleven when the sisters of Mary are in the honey house, Zach and Lily sneak off into the woods and they have their first kiss, zach then precedes to tell Lily that it is unreasonable for them to be together at the moment but he will come back for her in the future. Personally, I beleive that Zach is telling the truth and will come back for Lily, but do you guys think Zach will keep his word and come back for Lily or do you think he will become a big shot lawyer and forget about her? 

Why didn't August tell Lily about her Mother?

When August explained how she had always known Lily's mother she talked about how she wasn't ready for it yet and that she didn't want her running away again. But when she first got there she was searching for her mother and that was what she wanted to know, to find out who had known her mother, so it would have been much better for her to know. I feel like August should have told her right away, but do you guys think she would've run away if that had happened?

What do the characters all think of the de-segregation protests?

I'm curious as to what everyone thinks about the characters' views on racial inequalities at the time. Obviously none of them would be happy with it, but both Rosaleen and August have commented about the protests being more trouble than they're worth which makes me wonder. I feel like Zack and possibly Lily are all for the protests but what about Rosaleen, August and June? Are they secretly hoping for changes to happen but they just don't want to have trouble in town because of people getting riled up? That was a common thought at the time so and it seems like they feel that way.

The Religion of the Calender Sisters

So this is old news, but I've been looking through everyone's posts and I haven't read anything about this yet. Lily is so interested in it that it seems at least worth mentioning on here because if it wasn't for how nice all the calendar sisters were I would feel like it was some sort of weird cult. I'm just curious as to what people think of it, is it a real religion or just some sort of oddity/cult?

T Ray' s mind

In the end, T Ray comes the honey house. He wants to pick lily up to his house. But, why? Why he wants do it? Is it because of the responsibility of being a father? I kind of can not get it.

forgive her mother?

I think in the end of story, I think she tried to forgive her mother. She also knows that her mother is her faith, so she lost her faith. But she already had her new life. Her love, job, knowledges, follow her heart.

A Mother Inside Yourself

In the last chapter, August has a intent conversation with Lily. In this conversation, August seem is a mother character. She teaches Lily to be stronger. And she should have a mother inside herself. She teaches Lily stands alone and depend on herself which it is important to her.

lily hates her mother

I think lily knows her mother leaves her, she is mad at her mother. She felt that everyone did't love her, we saw lily's other side, when she throw the honey bottle in the wall, she is totally different lily just like her father.

June and Neil

I was thinking that did June marry Neil just because of the suicide note, or when August told her she has to move forward with her life and marry Neil. What do think?

Lily's anger toward Deborah

Do you guys think that Lily is mad to her mom, because she left her, or is she just mad because she doesn't want to understand that she left them? I think that she doesn't want to understand that she left her.

Lily and T-Ray

Do you guys think that T-Ray loves Lily? Because when T-Ray came to get Lily he hit her and then started crying. I think he just got so mad at Lily, because she looks like Deborah, and T-Ray just snapped. What do you guys think?

Blending

At the beginning of the book it was clear to us that Lily was not considered as an equal amongst the black community. During the mourning of May's death, the Daughters of Mary joked about the white funeral home's drive through window. They spoke to Lily as if she was one of them. Not once did they stop talking because Lily was white. This seems to be the first time Lily truly feels part of something greater. Do you think this is a turning point for how they look at Lily? Will she finally be accepted? Will Lily finally break down the racial differences between the blacks and whites in the house?

August's Secret

I'm not sure if we discussed this in class but I kept noticing when Lily tells August the truth, that August already knew most of it.  She knew who Lily was the minute she saw her, and about T-Ray. Why didn't she just set Lily down and tell her everything she knew?

Black Hives

In chapter ten, after May's death, August, Zach, and Lily go out and cover all the bee hives with black cloth. It is some kind of ritual for the survivors to remember that life gives way into death. Do you find another significance of covering the hives? Why would the bees leave after a death in the family?

August VS Rosaleen

If August is the red heart on Mary's chest, Rosaleen is the fist

What is the significance of this line? What previous evidence supports this statement?

Lily Finally Tells

I just finished reading the part where Lily tells August the truth about everything and I noticed just how crazed and emotional Lily was. It wasn't like she was finding out new information, she was just telling August everything when August actually knew more than Lily did. Why do you think she was so hysterical? Also, by the end she says she hates her mom for leaving her with T-Ray. Do you think she means that or she just doesn't want to here any more information?

Is June would leave?

    In the chapter eleven, June reply Neil's marriage. August is having the biggest smile face, but I have a strong feeling that is August will be alone. April left, and then May left, Lily and Rosaleen probably will leave because of the police. Now, June may leave and move to new home for the marriage. Do you think calender sister still together？

Lily and August

Lily knows that Deborah knew August, and August knew Deborah too, but why she doesn't tell her that she's Deborah's daughter? I think it would be easier to live with them, if she tell her. I was thinking that Lily doesn't tell her because she's afraid to lose August, and June. We can see that Lily really wants to tell her. what do you guys think?

Lily's mother's relationship with August

We know that Lily's mother was living with August, June, and May. I think that every calendar sister liked Lily's mother, and that's why she wanted to live there and leave T-Ray. If Lily would tell June that she is Deborah's daughter, Junes thoughts about her would changes right away. what do you guys think?

August's love for Lily

So if T-Ray finds Lily and decides to take her home, what will august do? will she defend Lily and argue with T-Ray? What will happen?

Neil and June

Did June agree to marry Neil because of Mays suicide note or was it because she finally want to marry him? Did May play a role in Junes agreement?

What will T-ray do if he finds Lily?

What will T-Ray do if he finds Lily? will he take her home to live with him?  Or will he let her stay with the Calendar Sisters? What are your predictions? Why?

June and Lily

I have not Finished the novel yet, and if you have please don't comment. I haven't read anymore since May's death but I was starting to think about Lily's and June's relationship. We know that lily and June are on better terms now after the water fight. But I started to think that with may's death, June will change. She might take her anger and frustration out on Lily, just because she's the only thing she has to take it out on. It's hard to explain what I mean but what are everyone else's thoughts? 

Neils proposal to June, again

When Neil proposed to June, probably for the fifth or sixth time, did she say yes because of May's suicide note? Or do you think she finally wanted to marry him because she loved him? Also, I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on if Neil asked June to marry him because he knew about the suicide note? Or if he just wouldn't give up on marrying her?

CHAPTER 14 DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER

WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.
WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.
WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.
WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.
WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.
WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.
WARNING: CHAPTER 14 POST; DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER.

This post will not feature and questions, it is just for me to reflect on the novel. 
Throughout this whole novel, I have been trying to figure out who "replaced" Lily's mother and became her motherly figure. I was dumbfounded when August explained that Lily must find a mother inside herself, and that she cant expect an outside force to mother her. August explained that the mother acts as a power inside of her, one that she can rely on when she is feeling alone or sad.

I finally found out who her new motherly figure is!!! It's her!!! I would have never guessed that it would be her. Although many women around her have helped guide her, the "mother" was inside of her this whole time. Wow.
Feel free to comment on this with your opinions and reactions if you want. 

Chapter 13 DO NOT READ UNLESS AT THIS CHAPTER

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.
WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 13 YET.

Lily finally found out the truth behind what had happened regarding her mother. When Deborah left Lily and T-Ray and came to the Boatright's house, August was expecting to see little Lily but she was alone. Lily was disgusted by this news and said that she hates her. I can't help believe that Deborah must have had some good reason as to why she left Lily with T-Ray. I think that for some reason, she thought that Lily would be better off with T-Ray. Later in chapter 13, Lily comes to realize that maybe her mother did love her after all, although in a more complicated way than Lily originally thought. Why did Lily think this? What do you think of Deborah's decision to leave Lily behind? Would you have done the same? Why or why not?

The four sisters.

Now that May has died, what do you think about the four sisters? April and May are gone but what about Lily and Rosaleen? Are they "replacing" April and May? Or is it really just June and August left for each other? 

The climax

Now that the story has has taken so many twists and turns, what do you predict will happen next? My prediction is that Lily's dad will come, but something will stop him from taking her home, and I'm not sure what that will be. What does everyone else think? 

The Marriage

A quick question here: Do guys think that June finally accepted Neil's proposal just because of the suicide note and not for the right reasons? I think that she did want to marry him and the note just helped encourage her. What are your thoughts?

Don't live with you memory

 I think May's dead kind of tell lily actually she is luckily, sometime something happen, but it was already happened,  just let it go, I think lily probably think about it. May leaves them but it was her choose, maybe she is happy because she doesn't need miss April, they didn't wrong, just the time is not correct."  I think is Lily's time to live. what August saying is also says to Lily, DON'T living in you own world  too long, sometimes you need give up and it's really important for everyone cause we need live in now, lily needs, June needs. We can't live with memory  everyday. Just find the right way to live in this world.

May's Final Lesson

When May passed away it seemed to teach the Calendar Sisters a life lesson that I doubt that they would of learned if May had not passed. Yes I consider Lily and Rosaleen part of the Calendar Sisters now because now August, June, and May all love Rosaleen and Lily. Anyway, when August read May's suicide note it seemed to spark a new understanding of the world and life. August instantly tells June that she needs to marry Niel in order to stop "sort-of-maybe living." This is the first of many moments I think May's lesson will affect the Calendar Sisters actions. My question is. How long will you think May's message will last? I think it will live within the sisters for decades to come. Let me know what you guys think.

Flash back friday

Why do you think things became so dysfunctional in the week following May's Death. It seems things were a bit like they used to be when she lived with T-Ray all hectic and violent and then they suddenly went back to normal. Was this a real life flash back? Why did things revert to this way so quickly and then go to normal so suddenly?

Do you think the only reason June said yes so quickly to get married was just because it said it on Mary's death note. Was there a deeper meaning or message there or was it just simply time? Any thoughts?

Coming Clean

This is a question that we brought up during class but didn't really have the time to discuss it. We know that the Boatrights know Deborah, but they don't know the connection between Lily and her. Will Lily ever tell them the truth about her mom? Lily has connection and form strong relationships with each. Is there any reason for Lily to NOT tell August the truth about her mom? If not, then why hasn't she yet?

when will Lily ask August about her mother?

So Lily finds out that the Calendar Sisters knew her mother. Will this lead Lily to ask more about her mother and find out more about her? If she asks, how will she ask? Will Lily lie about why she's asking or tell the truth about her mother death?

Thomas Sansone

I don't think it was right for August to tell Lilly that she isn't a real beekeeper if she can't avoid getting stung. What do you guys think? Do you think that was a right thing to say to Lilly? She got stung.. so what? Stuff happens, you can't always avoid getting stung.

lily and zach

I think Lily believes her mother more than everyone, even she don't really talk with her mom. I think she'll find it.  June also open her heart, she plays water with lily, that's a good change, but I feel lily and Zach's will happen something to completely change their relationship.

August vs Planting a Seed

Every time August talked to Lily, she always told her different stories parallel to Lily's life, hints, to try to get Lily to tell her the truth about whats really happening in her life. I don't think that Lily caught on, but maybe she did and was just avoiding it. I think the way August gives hints to Lily is a metaphor to planting a seed. You plant the seed in the ground, and waters it to help it grow. Over time, it eventually grows until it can't grow anymore. This compares to August telling Lily the stories about the different people who have the same story as her. She keeps giving hints to try and get Lily to tell her, but doesn't push it. Eventually, I think Lily will tell August everything.

Answers

On page 172 Lily finally opens up and asks May if she know Deborah Fontanel. May responds with "Oh, yes, Deborah Fontanel. She stayed out there in the honey house. She was the sweetest thing." This is the first lead Lily has gotten about her mother since arriving at the Calendar Sisters house. The information in itself causes Lily to nearly buckle to the ground. This is huge for both Lily and the plot of the story. My question to you is. Will Lily return to hiding behind her lies after learning that the Calendar Sisters know of her mother or will she follow up and try to talk to August like she said she would the night Zach got arrested? I think that Lily will talk to August because its way overdue for her to find out about her mother. Let me know what you guys think.

Tracking Lily Down

This is kinda of a broad and quick question. In class we discussed how Lily has settled into the Boatright household and now feel comfortable there. After calling her dad, there is now a possibility of T-Ray tracking her down and taking her home. If this does happen, how do you think Lily would respond to it? Would she try and run away again or would she accept being miserable?

Lily surrounded by bees

I got really confused in chapter eight on page 151 when it talks about the bees surrounding Lily and Lily having an out-of-body experience. I'm not sure what happened exactly, did she faint or was she daydreaming. Is anyone else confused by this or does anyone have any ideas what the text is implying? 

Lily and Zach

Do you guys think that Lily and Zach will start dating at the end of the book? I think they will, because Lily is on huge crush on him and Zach kind of feels the same. They both know that it is wrong to date a person with different skin color, but I feel like they do not care about it. What do you think?

her mom is her belief by Doris

I think lily is cry because she wants to made a relationship with jack,  but she doesn't know how to do it, and her appetence is her real thinking. She became a normal girl, love someone, and think about someone. 

ps: I feel her mom is her belief,  the three sister teach her how to make sweets and how to make the life happier.

Love Story

In chapter 7 we see Lily start to flirt a little with Zach. Given the positions that they are both in, do you think their relationship would be successful. First Rosaleen says its not a good idea and then even Zach told Lily that society would never allow them to be together. 1.) Do you think this is true even if their relationship would be secret? 2.) If you were Lily, would you still try and be with him?

One Side Dimple

    After chapter 7, we all know that Zach and Lily love each other. Lily loves his one side dimple, and Zach likes Lily than any girl he has been ever know.
Is they would fall in love? Or they would be limited by the racialism? As, Zach said some colored man was killed, because they love the white girl like Lily.

Rosaleen And Lily

It seems that Rosaleen has taken a little bit of a back seat in the story ever since Lily and her reached the Calender Sister's home. Do you think this is so because Lily is the narrator and has seemed to enjoy spending more time with August than with Rosaleen?  Or do you think that Rosaleen will again be a major contributor to the plot and become once again the focus of Lily's attention. I think that if Lily risked her life to break her out of jail that she and Rosaleen will always come back together in the end.

mixed emotions from Lily

Ever since Lily has feared the sirens from a ambulance or noises from the TV because she thought it was her father coning to take her away its given me the thought that she's got to crack at some point, I also think that the mixed emotions that Zach has given Lily is adding on to her fears. If Lily brakes down and decides to tell somebody the truth about her past life who do you think she will tell? I've been torn between it being either Zach or August, and if she told August and August told all of the other sisters what do you think June would do?

Lily's Journey

I don't think this journey, that Lily is on, is about finding her mother anymore, I beleive that it's about finding herself. She's been without a mother all her life and she thinks that if she finds out more about her mother, her life will be complete, bit it won't and this is why I believe the end result will be Lily figuring out how to love her life without her mother. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Lily's Journey

I don't think this journey, that Lily is on, is about finding her mother anymore, I beleive that it's about finding herself. She's been without a mother all her life and she thinks that if she finds out more about her mother, her life will be complete, bit it won't and this is why I believe the end result will be Lily figuring out how to love her life without her mother. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

BeeKeeping

Quote: The queen must produce some substance that attracts the workers and that can be obtained from her only by direct contact. The substance evidently simulates the normal working behavior in the hive. This chemical messenger has been called “queen substance.” Experiments have shown that the bees obtain it directly from the body of the queen.

How do you think the beekeeping quote relates to chapter six?

Lily the Liar

Lily is a liar. Why does she lie? In the past she has done this for many reasons (to get out of a bad situations, just for the heck of it, ect.) But why does she lie to the sisters? Does she have something to hide? Or is she too scared to find out the truth behind her mother? What motive do you think Lily has while she continues to lie?

Bees and Jars

Is it just a coincidence that the bees showed up in Lily's room before any of the events even occurred? Throughout the book so far, religious themes have been present. Do the bees and jars symbolize something greater? Lily has also received signs, that may or may not be from god. Her first sign, that her jar was wide open, was interpreted by Lily as a sign to leave. Then again, when she was walking, she noticed a field being sprayed with pesticides. She took this to mean either she was going to be destroyed or be saved. Do you guys think that there may be some hidden meaning behind the bees and jars that we will discover?

Difference between movie and novel

I have already watch the movie of the secret life of bee, the movie seems a little different with the novel ,in the movie, T Ray take lily away at where they offense  the three white people in the movie, but in the novel,both of them go to the prison. And the movie also doesn't have a lot of flash back like the novel have.

Why he tell her?

When she ask TRay about her mom, he usually get mad,but why at the day which she push a nail into a peach ,her dad just tell her about her mom  himself?

chapter 7 she just like a regular girl when she lives with the 3 girls by doris

She felt guilted about she 'killed' her mom, she loves her mom, and needs someone to love her just like her mom, but J-Ray doesn't gives her that. As we know she is smart and brave, she leave home, save Rosaleen, she believes that she can find her mom or anything about her mom. However Rosaleen said maybe your mother left you, Lily, let it alone. She still trust one day she'll find it. Also I think Rosaleen is right, if lily never find something about her mom, she'll be really sad. When she was live in August's house, she just like a regular girl, never killed her mom, she has 4 sister, they loves her. she doesn't want Rosaleen sleep with May and let her alone, she is mad with her. I think she loves Rosaleen a lot, Rosaleen kind of protected her.

After I read chapter six

I think all Lily's trek is not only find the answer such a love or not love,but also find her self,she can easy change mind by her dad. she is trying to prove to herself that : she is not that bad. No matter what did her go through,I am still believe, all the suffering and distress is temporary,everything will be better,but suffering can also bring happiness.

fraternity house or mothers

As they have stayed at this for a week now is Lily starting to see these people as mothers. Although it is still early to tell and they are still early on their adventure to find Lily's Mom but could it be instead of finding her Mom a bond forms between all the girls and they all raise Lily to a certain extent. Perhaps this is why metaphorically the story revolves around a bees hive is thats what there comparing to te house of all the girls. Any thoughts?

Racism reverse

I can only think that in an all black home they fell some sort of recent against Lily. they pray to their own semi creation of a god and have their own ways about them. Although the personality of Lily fits in decently they must feel a bit racist to her as most people do about blacks. I wonder if anything will spark up about all of them going against Lily because of her color because Rosaleen fits in with them in a way. Although she does work well with people I wouldn't doubt something occurs along those lines.

Red heart chapter 6 by Doris

Why she says:" I wanted to touch her vanishing red Herat, too, as much as anything I 'd ever wanted" and what is that means?

Dead Ends

Lily has gone on this life changing adventure with Rosaleen to find information on her long gone mother to fill the void in her heart that only a mom can fill. What if this search leads to nothing? What if her need to know about Deborah is not satisfied? Lily a fourteen year old girl cannot run around the country forever looking for little tid-bits of information about her mom. At some point she'll need to stop. Will she ever stop looking if she doesn't find anything? Even further,  if Lily does find something what will she do? Lily and Rosaleen cant run forever, but they also cannot go back to T-Ray.

Does Lily miss T-Ray?

Ever since Lily ran away with Rosaleen the thoughts of living with T-Ray always come to her. If she really hated living with him so much then shouldn't she forget about him and just be focussing on her new life? Do the thoughts of T-Ray come to her because she misses him?

The Voices

The Voices

Since the beginning of the novel "The Secret Life Of Bees" it has been clear that Lily has dis-liked T-Ray. It is also obvious that Lily has thought about running away before because of the pre-written note that she left for T-Ray, when she actually did decide to leave him. However, it was the voice on page 41 that says "Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open" that seems to prompt her to run away. Lily describes the words to be "spoken so genuinely you see the words shining on the trees and clouds". She also hints that this was her first "true religious moment". My questions to you is, do you believe that the voice was the voice of some greater power or Lily imagining it to try and convince herself to leave? Or if you don't think it is either leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

How does lying affect Lily?

Lily tells a lot of lies to many different people. What affect do you think that lying to August has had on Lily? How does Lily act when August tells her about the book she is reading? Will this experience influence Lily to never lie again?

August and June

After over hearing August and June's conversation about Lily's lie, Lily is relieved that they didn't call the police on her. August wanted to wait and let Lily tell them the truth about what happened, But June just wants to call the police right away. August brings up the point that maybe Lily ran away because of the way she was treated at home by her father or there was something back where she came from that she needed to get away from. I think that June will end up calling the police and getting Lily in trouble and sent back to live with T-Ray again, but that might not happen. What does everyone else think?

It was been pretty evident that since they arrived at the house there has been some tension between Rosaleen and Lily. For one, the jealousy for Lily because she is closer with August. Why do you think that is when Rosaleen and August probably have more in common. Why is Lily trying to over power Rosaleen in conversation and  in personality? Any thoughts?

Will June Accept Lily?

With Rosaleen moving into the main house does anyone think that June might get upset about Rosaleen moving in?  With Rosaleen moving in this means that June will be around Lily more often. Do you think that June will accept Lily or not?

Is Honey a Symbol?

So what I've been wondering is that if the book is all about a beehive being a microcosm of the real world, then shouldn't the most important part of a beehive have some sort of significance in the real world? Honey is the whole point of taking care of bees and having a beehive, so it seems like it must be a symbol, but of what? Earlier on in the book Lily talked about how much they ate honey with the sisters and the effect it was having on her, so I'm just wondering if there's more to that than just being the literal benefits of honey.

Deborah and the Calendar Sisters

Knowing that Deborah had a picture of the Madonna, which lead Lily and Rosaleen to the Calendar Sister's house, I feel that the Calendar Sister's and Deborah has some type of relationship. Whether it was just a friendship or a family related relationship. I feel this was because the things that the Calendar Sisters do are similar to the things that Deborah used to do. For example, Deborah used to catch bugs, just like May. Also, August acts the same was towards Lily as Deborah did. Does anyone else have any other opinions?

Lily's Search For The Truth About Her Mother

After reading the fifth chapter I'm starting to wonder if Lily will actually end up leaving the Calendar Sisters or not. After living with T-Ray as a father her entire life and knowing what a real family is like I'm wondering if she'll just decide to stay. She's finally being treated like family by someone who isn't even family and I'm wondering if that'll wear off on her. The only reason I feel like she would go is because the book isn't even halfway over yet, which isn't the best of reasons. So what do you all think, will she leave or stay, and when?

Friendship

It seems like May, August, Rosaleen and Lily have become very close to each other. August and Lily have been working the the honey house, and Lily has learned so much from her. For example, how to work the super. Rosaleen and May have also been working together in the house. They have been caught many times shucking corn and laughing, standing shoulder to shoulder and much more. I'm really happy that Lily has found a place far away from her cruel father, where she can be herself and be free without getting punished or yelled at. My only question is, even though June works at a colored school, does she help out making honey? Or is that just May and August's job?

August and June

Do you think August will accept Lily's past? Or will she call the police and force her to go home with T-Ray? I think when she finds out Lily's true story, she won't make her go back to that awful place. Nor would she make Rosaleen leave. What about June? Would she call the police on Lily after hearing her story? 

sharing emotions

when caring heavy emotions like Lilly is, I think its best if you share it with some because it'll reduce the stress and the pain. Lilly wants to tell May about T-Ray and her mother's death because she wanted to know what would happen if two people felt the pain. Do you guys think it's best if she tells May this or just keep it a secret and hold on to the emotional pain?

August's correlation to Lily

In the early chapters of the book Lily expressed how much she wished she had a mother, to teach her how to act like a lady. Obviously Rosaleen can't teach her how to act like a lady, which is why I believe that August fulfills this role for Lily. In chapter five when August takes Lily out to the Bee yard, August teaches her about "Bee Etiquette" which can also be translated to human Etiquette, this makes it seem like Lily has found a mother like figure to teach her how to act. Does anyone else agree with this? 

Lily's memory

As we read in some chapters, Lily mentions her mother. Obviously, she has blurry memory about that she is a kind mother and she loves her. She hang clothes and does some housework like every mother does. However, the strange thing is she never mention T-Ray' s attitude to her before her mother died. Is T-Ray loves her before? Or is changed, because of the death of her mother?

Lily's double life

  I think Lily would think more and grow up in their house. She thinks she is unlucky before, because of T-Ray and the death of her mother. She met the colored people, and she understand there are many unfair things to the colored people. I am wondering how she look up her life in the T-Ray's house? Is it change a little bit?

June

Do you think June will overcome racial stereotype like Lilly did?

Lily's Decision

I think Lily made a very smart decision about leaving T-Ray and taking Rosaleen with her. If she had stayed, do you think things would've changed at all? Probably not. Why would anything change? She got away from the things that were hurting her and got to take the one person that cares about her, with her. Would things be different if she hadn't brought Rosaleen with her? I think so because the calendar sisters probably wouldn't have taken in only a white girl. I also think Lily made a brave decision. There was so much physical and emotional pain when she was at home so she left, not knowing what would happen to her, just hoping for the best. What does everyone think about Lily's decision?

Lilly's feeling and what it would've been

Do you think Lilly is comfortable living with three black woman as Rosaleen is? Also would it have made a difference if it were two white ladies who came to the door and not one white and one black?

The Darkness

Chapter 5 Quote: "Let's imagine for a moment that we are tiny enough to follow a bee into a hive. Usually the first thing we would have to get used to is the darkness..."

Every chapter, I try and find the connection between the quote and the plot. I think that this quote relates to Rosaleen and Lily's involvement with the Boatright's. It is obvious that there is great care and happiness there but if we look below the surface, it seems that there is a darkness as well. Some examples of this are May's depression and also April's death. But they are trying to look past the darkness and are familiar to it just the like the bees (the Boatright household). However, when someone new (Lily and Rosaleen) comes to interaction with the darkness than it is more obvious to them. I think that this darkness is what the quote is referring to. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Lily and T-Ray

Do you guys think why T-Ray and Lily's mom were fighting. I was thinking that they were fighting for Lily. Maybe T-Ray did not want to keep Lily and neither her mom wanted to keep her, and then Lily accidentally shot her mom and T-Ray had to keep her. We can see that T-Ray doesn't like Lily and she does not like him either. I think that T-Ray made Lily's life miserable, because she made him keep her. Do you think that T-Ray will try to find her or is he happy that she left?

June, August, and Lily

Why June does not want Lily live with them, and why she does not believe her? Why August wants to give Lily a change to live with them, and why she trusts Lily? Lily tells lies, about her past life, because she wants to get in the house and I think June noticed that she is in some kind of trouble. August sees that Lily is good, even that she knows Lily is lying. June is trying to tell August that Lily is nothing else than harm, but when August is the oldest sister she decides to help Lily and let Rosaleen and Lily stay with them.

Racism in 1960s

How racism was shown in 1960? I heard that there was a law, that you can not kill black people and you can not beat them. In 1960 many black people got killed, because of racism, but it was illegal and it wasn't okay to kill black people. Any way, you did not get any punishments if you killed a black woman, man, or child. They did not even care, if they would find a black person's body. What was the point of this law? Because even polices did not care of it. In 1960, black people had rights, but nobody, except black people, did not care of them.

Your jar is open

In chapter 2 when it says " Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open" what do you guys think this metaphor means? When I first read it I thought it meant that this was Lily's chance to leave her "old life" and T-Ray and start a new one with Rosaleen. That her "jar" was open and she could get out (leave). The open jar represents her chance of escape. Just wanted to here everyone's thoughts. 

The Voices

Since the beginning of the novel "The Secret Life Of Bees" it has been clear that Lily has dis-liked T-Ray. It is also obvious that Lily has thought about running away before because of the pre-written note that she left for T-Ray, when she actually did decide to leave him. However, it was the voice on page 41 that says "Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open" that seems to prompt her to run away. Lily describes the words to be "spoken so genuinely you see the words shining on the trees and clouds". She also hints that this was her first "true religious moment". My questions to you is, do you believe that the voice was the voice of some greater power or Lily imagining it to try and convince herself to leave? Or if you don't think it is either leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

Parallelism

We all know what the novel title means; how a beehive is a microcosm for our big world. As Lily becomes more interested in beekeeping she starts to notice what it does to her soul. As her experience with this new hobby of hers has increased do you think she has noticed the parallelism between a beehive and the large community she lives in? If so, how do you think this idea would help her in life?

Liar liar pants on fire!!!!!

There seems to be a reoccurring theme of lying in this book, as we talked about in A period today. There is one lie in particular that I am sort of hung up on, this is the lie that T-Ray told Lily. When T-Ray told Lily that her mother had left her and didn't care about her Lily was devastated, which was why she told herself it was T-Ray's form of a punishment. But was it a punishment? Could T-Ray have been telling the truth? I think it seems reasonable that he was telling the truth because in the beginning of the novel Lily states that the first and only memory she has of her mother was when her mother died. It doesn't make sense that Lily would only have one memory of her mother unless her mother wasn't in Lily's life often, so I think that Lily's mom really did leave Lily, as T-Ray stated in chapter Two page 39. This is just my theory though, what does everyone else think? 

Who Actually Killed Lily's Mother?

So, I know that we did talk about this some in my class, but I feel like there's more to it. All that lily remembers of her mother's death is that her mother was cleaning a closet and that she had a gun in her hand, after that, nothing. But her father told her that she was packing up and leaving because she hated Lily, and that Lily accidentally shot her. She doesn't want to believe this and she talks about how T-Ray is always lying to her, but I feel like deep down she thinks her dad is right.

The way I see is that there's a few options:

1. Her father is telling the truth about what happened and she really did kill her mom.
2. Lily's mom came back to get luggage, but also to take Lily away from T-Ray and because of this her parents argued and then T-Ray shot her mom before putting the gun in Lily's hand to try and pin it on her
3. Lily's mom came back to get what she needed and Lily, and then when T-Ray tried to stop them from leaving Lily somehow found a gun and tried to shoot her father but accidentally hit her mom. It seems unlikely that a four year old would do this though.

I personally think that T-Ray killed her mom like I said in the second option, just it seems unlikely that a four year old would shoot a gun at all, let alone kill someone with it.

lily lies to august

When lily lied to August and said that her father died in a tractor accident, do you guys thing she made the right decision to lie to people she doesn't really know yet? And do you guys think that if eventually August and the rest of the group finds out that she lied that it will harm in some way. Personally I do t think it will harm her if she becomes close with them, although August may tell her she would have rather herd the truth. What do you all think?

Lily's New Mother?

After reading the first couple chapters of Secret Life of Bees I couldn't help but notice that Lily has a very strong sense of curiousness towards her mother and the unknown of her. Why do you think that she insists on knowing more about Deborah? Also do you think Lily is very close to Rosaleen because she plays a motherly role in Lily's life due to the absents of Deborah? What do you guys think?

Welcome! This is your "Bee's Blog"!

Hi All,

For our final unit we will be reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and responding here on the blog.  This blog will serve three functions:

1) We will all be able to engage in one big conversation about the novel, much like we did for Catcher in the Rye, but every freshman's voice will be heard here no matter the class (A,B, or E).

2) Since we will be away on Spring Program possibly before we get a chance to finish, this forum will allow us to continue to read and respond even though we will be away from class.

3) This will serve as a way to evaluate reading as a supplement to quizzes

The blog is a place to break down the barrier between classes and all learn from each other.  Think of it as the great online conversation!

Assignment: You will be required to write an original post on the blog at least three times a week and respond to at least two of your classmates posts a week.

Follow the rules and regulations outlined in the "Bloggers Contract"

And above all enjoy the novel and the conversation you create!