The Secret Life of Bees (Book Overview) Essays -

The Secret Life of Bees (Book Overview) Ch. 1: -1964 -Lily is 13 going on 14 -lives with father (Terrance Ray aka T. Ray), their black housekeeper and nanny- Rosaleen -mother died when Lily was 4 -live in Sylvan, South Carolina -T. Ray runs a peach farm -Lily helps by selling peaches roadside -not allowed to be social -wears only clothes she sews - men taunt Rosaleen when she goes to vote- spit chewing tobacco on their shoes -men accost Rosaleen and call police -Lily and Rosaleen go to jail Ch. 2 3: -Mr. Avery Gatson , the policeman, drives them to jail - three men wait for them at jail and demand an apology - one hits Rosaleen with a flashlight when she refuses to apologize -T. Ray comes to take Lily out but leaves Rosaleen -Franklin Posey plans to kill Rosaleen -T. Ray scolds Lily, but she says her mom will not let him hurt her -he laughs at her and tells her Deborah had already abandoned her -Lily runs away and goes to the jail, but Brother Gerald picks her up and tells her Rosaleen had been taken to the hospital - three men entered jail and beat her further -visits Rosaleen in hospital -Lily tricks security guard with phone call and slips out hospital with Rosaleen -black man driving truck full of cantaloupe picks them up and drives them withing three miles of Tiburon -gives them cantaloupe for dinner -Lily tells Rosaleen why they are heading to Tiburon and Rosaleen gets upsetaccusing Lily of not taking Rosaleen into account when she ran off -they fight and split apart -later Rosaleen and Lily bathe together in the river - when Lily enters a store, she notices a selection of Black Madonna Honey jarsthey have pictures of the picture from her mother -clerk tells her the maker, August Boatwright, lives on the other side of Tiburon -buys paper to see if disappearance has made the news, but it hasn't Ch. 4 5: -arrive at Boatwright house -Lily lies and tells August that she and Rosaleen have run away because her father died in a tractor accidentshe claims they are headed to Virginia to be with her Aunt Bernie - Rosaleen gets irritated at Lily for lying and acting as if she is not there -August welcomes them -spend a week there -Lily overhears June making comments about her skin color -August runs the bee farm with the help of Zach -television constantly talks about desegregation which makes Lily very self-conscious about her race -August teaches Lily about honey farming -Lily wonders if T. Ray misses her -misses mother - Rosaleen is jealous over all the time Lily is spending with August Ch. 6 7: -tall black man named Neil is June's sweetheart -June refuses to marry him -relaxed into the Boatwright routine but is still nervous when hearing the wail of a siren -Zach makes Lily feel things she had never felt before -Zach wants to be a lawyer -Lily wants to be an English teacher -Lily realizes she has developed romantic feelings for Zach -suspects he feels the same for her - Willifred Marchant town's most prized writer - Rosaleen is moving out to the main house to share a room with May -tells Lily that Rosaleen's presence will make May feel safer -tension between June and Lily continues to grow -Zach brings Lily a notebook for her to use to work on her stories -explains that society will never allow them to be together Ch. 8: -August asks Lily to help her apply the new Black Madonna labels on the honey jars -explains symbolism behind the black Mary -August was never married because she did not want to give up her autonomy -listen to the secret sounds bees make while inside their homes -August tells Lily that they need to have a talk - Zach reports a rumor: a white movie star is coming to town and intends to see a movie with his black girlfriend -Zach goes to drop off honey at Clayton Forrest's office -Lily goes with him -Ms. Lacy, Mr. Forrest's secretary, is surprised that Lily is staying at a black