Middle school teachers can help their students learn to identify and discuss themes in a novel. Since themes are often suggested, rather than stated directly, understanding theme is a higher level academic skill that students need to develop before entering high school.
What is Theme?
A theme is one of many literary devices utilized in The Secret Life of Bees. Theme is a central message that pervades a story. It often teaches readers about a life lesson they can apply to their own lives. There can be numerous themes that emerge in a single novel, but oftentimes one surpasses the others. The primary themes in this novel include motherlessness, the recreation of identity and interracial relationships. Here are a few quotes that illustrate themes in The Secret Life of Bees.
Theme of Developing Interracial Relationships
Developing interracial relationships and battling racism is an important theme in this novel, especially considering the novel's setting of 1964. In the following quote, Zach, a black teenager, is surprised to find Lily, a white girl, staying with August: “He went and got a towel and cleaned up the floor. ‘August told me about you being here and helping us out, but she didn’t say anything about you being… white.’” (Kidd 116). When discussing this novel, teachers should point out the social climate during this time period, 1964, when racial tensions were high. This novel also takes place the year the Civil Rights Act was passed, giving black citizens the right to vote.
Here is another example of the theme of developing interracial relationships. When a white policeman knocks on the door of the Boatright sisters, Lily comments on his shocked reaction: “Here is the translation: I am completely confused what a white girl like you is doing staying in a colored house” (Kidd 197). Lily knows its unusual for white and black people to socially mix, but she is quickly discovering that there are few differences between them and that people, ultimately, are just people.
Theme of Battling Racism
Battling racism is another strong theme in The Secret Life of Bees. Lily and her father, T. Ray, have completely different views about the races. In Lily's opinion, people should drop the color issue altogether: “Up until then I’d thought that white people and colored people getting along was the big aim, but after that I decided everybody being colorless together was a better plan” (Kidd 209). However, T. Ray, is clearly angered when he discovers Lily has been living with the Boatright sisters. He says, "So you’ve been here the whole time, staying with colored women. Jesus Christ” (Kidd 291).
While two of white characters in the novel, T. Ray and the police officer, clearly reveal their prejudice against black people, another white man proves to be a champion of civil rights. Mr. Forrest, a white lawyer in Tiburon, South Carolina, works to get Zack released from jail and befriends Lily during her stay with the Boatright sisters. Readers can see how a decent, white man rises above the common views of the time period and recognizes the humanity of all people, regardless of their race. For this, Mr. Forrest earns Lily's deepest respect.
When discussing theme in The Secret Life of Bees, teachers should encourage students to identify their own examples of quotes that help reveal theme. Other students should try to explain how a particular quote relates to their own lives. In this way, teachers can help students internalize what themes are and better understand their purpose. Literary themes are timeless and universal; they help unite readers through common experience.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. Penguin Books: 2002
Thadra Petkus - Thadra Petkus is currently a freelance writer, English teacher and mentor. Although she has taught students from age two through ...
