Topic: theme

Theme is what the author is trying to convey. The theme of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is hope. I think this is the theme because of the characters who show and grow it. Lily is learning how to go on and have hope for many things. She is hopeful throughout the book. As far as the other characters they are hopeful for change to come in South Carolina. For example the discrimination that spreads around in their state. They hope for a better world and for love as sweet as honey in the world. The book uses the theme hope to create emotion to the story and suspense.

Topic: conflict

I would say the conflict in The Secret Life of Bees is Lily finding memory of her mother. This conflict is an person vs. self conflict. This is because she has to fight with herself to find out what happened the day her mother left and beyond that. She goes through other conflicts that are significant, such as her "father" T.Ray who doesn't want to have anything to do with explaining her mother. The effect of his actions are her running away. The conflict starts when she was four years old and the last time she has any memory of her mother. Lily, Rosaleen, June, August and May are the characters involved in this conflict. In the end its solved with the true story of her mother and Lily finally stands up to T.Ray for herself.

Topic: setting

The setting of The Secret Life of Bee's is in various places. The main setting is in South Carolina. Here is where all the main characters live. It's set in the 1960's and is full of racism. To go a little deeper, Lily and Rosaleen stay in Tiburon, South Carolina to find out more about Lily's mother. Here they stay in a big pink house that is owned by three cultured African-American women. It's surrounded by ton's of land and trees. They evolve their lives around honey and bees. This setting is important because Lily discovers her mother who she has no memory of and a new way of life that she hasn't seen before.I don't think would vary as much if the setting was somewhere else, but this could also be in another southern place.