Summary Of The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

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Novels of all genres, shapes, and sizes are frequently referred to for advice pertaining to real-world problems and scenarios regardless of whether or not the story is true. For instance, fables are frequently accredited for the lessons they teach readers. These lessons are common to the real world and are regularly taught to children to use in everyday life. Have you ever heard of the saying “treat others the way you want to be treated”? This is a splendid example of a classic lesson that is taught to children based off of fictional stories. Not only do fables contain real world lessons, but fictional novels for young adults such as The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. This coming-of-age narrative contains lessons during the course of…show more content…
The novel mostly takes place in Tiburon, South Carolina in 1964 when severe racial segregation was taking place and people were judged of their personality, and worth based on their skin color and race. However, events in this novel prove that this concept was completely illogical. The Boatwright sisters are three African American women, May, June, and August, who live in Tiburon, South Carolina. These women run a successful business called Black Madonna Honey despite the restrictions from society based on their race. Not only are they African-American, but these outstanding business owners also are female, another characteristic that was disgraced in the time period. Although August and her sisters were faced with these social challenges, they were still able to move on and create a lucrative business. The novel uses the lesson of not judging a book by its cover to convey the perseverance and strength of the Boatwright Sisters. Most people would judge the Boatwright sisters to be uneducated and weak because of the time period the story takes place in, yet the sisters are actually quite the opposite. Therefore, the lesson of not judging a book (or person) by its cover teaches readers that a person's race or gender does not define their personality or capabilities. Readers can learn from this fictional novel that a person may not be how you perceive them to be, despite acute…show more content…
August, the oldest of the Boatwright sisters and head of the Daughters of Mary, told a story about how Our Lady of Chains, the black Mary statue, was first found. Her story talks about how a slave discovered the wooden statue of black Mary in a river. This statue brought hope to all of the slaves who had felt like they were always going to be enslaved forever. When the statue was confiscated by the slave owners, it would escape the chains that were put around it and marvelously return to the slaves. August told this story to the Daughters of Mary, a church group who met at the Boatwright’s house, to inspire them to persevere through a time of social injustice. The fictional story taught the Daughters of Mary to have hope even though they were treated unfairly due to the color of their skin. It also gave them hope that things would eventually get better so that one day they would be accepted and treated as equally as those who were white. Furthermore, the story taught the Daughters to break through the chains that society had constrained them in, like Our Lady of Chains did when she was chained up. Overall, the story of Our Lady of Chains informed the Daughters of Mary to never give up and to persevere through tough times no matter how arduous things
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