The Secret Life of Bees # 2

Over the past week I have gone farther into the ‘Secret life of bees’ and I have noticed a reoccurrence within the writing and narrative voice of Lily’s character; she loves nature.  But its not in just an appreciative mention of the things around her, it’s as if the trees and lake and moon are all parts of her. Thinking on a bigger scale I wanted to figure this idea out, not necessarily find the “true meaning” behind her words, but obtain the importance of nature within her story. After all Lily has so subtly interlaced little sprinklings of detail about the river, the big sky, enveloping moon, soft earth, smooth stones, and loud animals.  There has to be a reason this is happening.

So, as I was thinking about this I was multitasking. While reading a philosophical idea that I had stumbled upon online that talked about the beauty of the world around us, and how we should embrace and accept the gifts of the earth, (little bit too out there, although there is some truth in the idea, which I do believe in!) I realized that the environment that we place ourselves in really does affect our behavior, and I have noticed that Lily is herself 100% when she is surrounded by the serenity of the outdoors, almost saving her from her own worst fears and darkest moments.

The people and places we surround ourselves by tell us more about ourselves than we are ever willing to share with another person. I mean nobody really slaps down their whole personality in front of someone else, raw and vulnerable, allowing anything anyone says to hit you and maybe even knock you down. Although, we do leave different hints and clues behind from the people we interact with and the places we go.

Lily sort of does this too because when she wades into the water, completely bare showing her weakness and pain, and accepting it, it shows the humble side of her, the side that wants a better future, and loves Rosaleen too much to loose her, even if she won’t come out and say it to the reader.  

I think that we all do different things and act certain ways depending on who we are with. That’s what life is, it’s a bunch of different places, and who we are stuck with in those places makes our personal experiences, and ultimately who we will become.

That’s why Lily had to get away from T.Ray, she had to stop living in a moment where what she said didn’t matter, where what she did didn’t matter, where she didn’t matter. So now she’s off on an adventure, hoping to find new people, who will maybe lead her to a more full person. Just one step at a time walking through the woods, through the water.

The secret life of Bees #1

I just started reading ‘the secret life of bees’ and its funny because jumping into the story, after seeing the movie is really different. It’s almost like déjà vu, re-visiting Lily’s world. I’m only a couple of chapters in, and I already know what’s going to happen, yet I haven’t read it before; it makes reading this book really special. So far what I have learned is that when Lily was just a baby, her mom walked out on her and her basically negligent dad, and when her mother comes back, Lily accidently shoots her. Fast forward to the 60’s, in the middle of a fight for equal rights between black and white people all over the US. Lily is 14, obsessed with reading and loves her nannie, Rosaleen who’s black, more than she loves her father, who she calls T.Ray. They all live on a Peach farm in rural South Carolina, isolated from the rest of the world, where segregation is still promenant, and Lily is all alone.

What is really interesting is that she’s surrounded by peaches, such a sweet and juicy, bright fruit, yet she never eats them. I think that the peaches could be a metaphor for something in her life. I think one possible thing the fruit could symbolize are all of the opportunities she could have had in her life, if she had a mother. Adding to that, she could choose not to take them because she feels like she took her mother away, so she doesn’t really EVER fully deserve happiness. I think that Lily has this big hole in her because she shot her mother, and she can say it was an accident ten trillion times, that won’t take the pain and guiltiness away. Those peaches could show each and every one of the things that are plucked away from here, and how she feels like she has nothing to her name, nothing to her identity because she is missing so much of herself.

I think we all have peaches in our lives that we choose not to eat because we feel like we don’t deserve it, almost like saving it for dessert. But I don’t think we should save our happiness and goodness in life, I don’t think we should pass up chances because of our past ways. I don’t think we should stop living because we messed up. It makes getting through the hard stuff so much harder, then again it gives you something to look forward to. However, if you let that peach sit there for too long, it is no longer ripe, its mushy and old, and not even good anymore.

Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows #3 *spoiler*

            I finally finished the book and reading it a second time all the way through I’m surprised as to how I view the characters. Most people who read the Harry Potter series, including me before, see Harry as the super hero, someone who is perfect and helps everyone to better the wizarding world by fighting off Voldemort and having some of the most loyal friends both in and out of books. This time around I’m sort of realizing Harry to be a scared teenager who has trust issues because of his abandonment and early trauma.

            I mean when he goes to talk to Dumbledore right before the last, most epic battle, he doesn’t really know what to do. On the outside sure he is all tuff and strong, but Dumbledore really gets into his thoughts, as usual, and challenges Harry to find a true reason he should give his life to this cause of a better world, one which is not even promised. This makes me think about college and how kids basically are forced to decide where they want to spend the next four, independent years of their life.  It’s really a lot to think about and all of the pressures and anxiety about where each school will take you and what opportunities you give yourself. It’s a huge decision that maybe even defines your career and life goals.

            Then again, life is all about decisions, about what to chose and thinking about how that will affect you in the long run. Harry has to decide throughout the whole book if it is really worth it to let his best friends die in a war because he won’t hand himself over to the Dark Lord. Would it have been better if Harry just gave in? After all in so many points in the book he watches innocent people tortured and killed, even throughout his whole life as well. Harry has been put in one compromising situation after another, and after a while he began to really dig his heals in.

            I think sometimes when you are given so many different directions in which you COULD take, it’s hard to find a clear winner. I mean let it be college or death nobody wants to make the wrong move, nobody wants to do something that will mess them or other people up big time. There is a lot of fear that goes into decision-making, and ultimately I think the weight of a previous wrong decision can make you not want to take a chance, and rather do nothing than be wrong again.  Maybe the choice of doing something by yourself pushes people to not do anything at all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Response # 2

The seventh book is quiet a long one! I mean with all of the turmoil Harry still has over Dumbledore’s death and putting all of his loved ones at stake to save himself. Not to mention Ron and Hermoine’s blossoming relationship and Voldemort’s rising threat against the whole magic community. There is obviously a bigger issue in this book of good vs. evil, and it’s just too simple to try sum it up with that so I was wondering about where the very roots of this insane battle can be found. There has to be some direct or indirect relation to our society, and the world J.K. Rowling lives in.  

As I was thinking about this idea of right and wrong, I decided to look up J.K. Rowling because no writer writes without putting themselves into their piece, they can’t really help it, after all since they are the ones creating the story. I learned that she constantly fought with her sister and she was for a short time part of a group, which battled the inequality given to classes of people. This really opened my eyes and made me view the whole Harry Potter series differently. The struggle for egalitarianism is reflected through her writing. I had to go back to some parts of the book and reread, really look between the lines.

The Deatheaters are similar, as I said in my previous post, to any group of chauvinists; in this case all of Voldemort’s supporters want to kill anyone who is not pure blooded. Also, they only wish to be around people who share common interests with them. Harry and his friends are only promoting the ideas that everyone should be able to co-exist in peace. What I found as I was reading was that this battle between the wizards is about making the world what each side believes to be a better place.

This connects to J.K. Rowling’s life completely since as a kid she constantly felt like she had to compete with her sister, since Di (her younger sister) was prettier. Their parents forced them into categories as beautiful, Di, and intelligent, J.K Rowling. The sisters wanted to be seen as complete people, with both looks and brains, but the judgments of others didn’t allow such balance.  For most of Joanne’s life, the author, she desperately wanted to be seen as equal to her sister.

I think even this small want to be beautiful is shown through Hermione’s quirky looks and very sharp mind. However, Ron still falls in love with her, seeing her as beautiful, symbolizing that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think that this book, as I have read so far shows Harry’s desire for equality in both his worlds because of the author’s understanding that no one person possesses everything, and that you must chose your battles. Maybe even, JK Rowling was showing a fight for equality, one that should be carried into current times and situations because the book has evolved along with the author and times.