User:Aubrey51091

Lily Owens
Lily Owens is a fourteen year old white girl growing up in Sylvan, South Carolina on a peach farm. When she was four, she accidentally shot her mom, Deborah. Ever since her mother’s death, Lily has been very insecure and never really loved. Her father is an abusive arrogant man. Lily can't even call her father "daddy" because he doesn't act like one. Instead she calls him T-ray.

The closest thing Lily has so a mother is her black housekeeper, Rosaleen. Lily’s first change of her insecurity is when she sees Rosaleen fight with the biggest racists in town. Freeing her from jail, Rosaleeen and Lily seek to find the past of her mother in Tiburon, South Carolina.

Lily’s traits are very different from everyone else. Her determination and longing for love make her different. When she starts to live on the bee farm with Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters, her identity of who she really is, is hidden. She doesn't want people to know that she is searching for her mothers past which makes Lily very mysterious.

Working on the bee farm, the bees inspire her to be more hardworking. She becomes close to August, June, May, and her black crush Zach. With all the support behind her, Lily changes into a stronger young woman. She is learning more about herself in a supportive area. She also is finding things out about her dead mother.

When Lily reveals to August that she is actually searching for her mothers past, a lot of secrets come out. Lily finds out that her mother actually was staying at the Boatwright house before she died. Deborah, Lily’s mom, actually left Lily and T-Ray. The day Lily killed her, her mother was just at home collecting the rest of her things.

Lily now has changed completely. Instead of being insecure, she is now strong and mature enough to understand that it isn't her fault. The ability to love without guilt is something very hard to do, but Lily has grown so much that she is able to do that. Not only does she have the strength to love her dead mother, but she also has the strength to confront her bitter father. Lily has so many people that love her, that she has the support to do this, but when she was younger she could hardly talk to her dad. This is a very major development of Lily that is shown through the book.

After confronting her resentful father, she is now able to call him dad. At this point in The Secret Life of Bees, Lily has left a world of an abusive and immature life and has gained a life of love and of coming of age as a young woman. She has pulled together a community where race, love, and feminine power can come together.” I can tell you this much: the world is a great big log thrown on the fires of love.” This quote shows Lily that love can bring you together, but it can also drive you apart. This shows Lily’s view of love is not only about rejection and longing.

Overall her development and change is her confidence. Lily is not an insecure little girl anymore. Another change is her maturity. It is a very dramatic change of her acting like a young girl, to becoming a very strong, intelligent, and inspiring young women.