Bees

Author's Note: With this essay my goal was to analyze the text for am advanced novel. The novel that I used was The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. Throughout the essay I show the symbolic references in the book.

While Lily was a small child, her mother passed away and her father, T. Ray, grew sour. The sourness spread over his soul, and he started to believe that it was okay for him to release his anger by abusing his daughter. When Lily turned fourteen, she was tired of the constant malice her father fed her with, so she took her courage and left with the nanny and housekeeper, Rosaleene, to search for her mother, who Lily believed still existed somewhere. With a few items to help them through their journey, they hitchhike to a city, Tiburon, S.C., written on the back of a photo that her mother kept with her belongings. Winding up at a pink beekeeping house, owned by black women, Lily learns how to keep bees and grow in love for others. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, the symbolism and messages throughout the story are tremendous, portraying the meaning of the bees in the story, the beehive, and racism.

The leadership of bees in this story is displayed through the entire novel. Dawning at the beginning of the book, Lily's room is crowded with bees, as it consistently is at nighttime, and whisper to her how she should leave T. Ray's house on her own. Farther into the novel, she follows a label on a honey company to Turban where she is then lead to a beekeeping house. As the women that own the house welcome her in, they make a pact to teach her how to keep bees. Every decision Lily makes in the novel has to relate to bees in one way or another. Even the title helps support the symbolic reference to bees, The Secret Life of Bees. This would mean the "secret" guidance, or job, of bees outlining the novel.

As bees direct us over to our next symbolic source, we come to the reasoning behind the beehive. Gather the common knowledge about beehives. It upholds a community of bees that all eat, breathe, and work in the same air; there is ultimately one queen bee. Similar to the atmosphere of the beehive is the running of the pink house owned by August, the queen bee. This home is contains August and her sisters as well as Lily and Roseleene that were lovingly welcomed in. Additionally, the work that everyone contributes benefits everyone in the household, or beehive. Without the business, they would all suffer financially. Without the love, the unification would collapse.

Rounding out the beehive with the people that work for it, is noticing the racism woven in the storyline. Way back in the foundation of the novel, while Lily accompanies Rosaleene to cast her vote, a fight broke out between Rosaleene and white men, showing the hatred for colored people. Afterward, when Lily and Rosaleene arrive to their destination, they notice the owners of the home are colored women. Lily is a bit perplexed at how these women can be just as intelligent and loving as any other white woman. A further example of how racism was characterized through this novel is when Lily meets and falls in love with a colored boy, Zach. The numerous occurrences of race in this novel show that the author wanted to get across to the reader that race is no object and people shouldn't be judged on whatever skin tone they have.

Pulling together the loose ends, there are endless ways for symbolism to be shown in the beautiful novel, The Secret Life of Bees. From the navigation of bees and their hives, to the future of racism back in the 1960's time period, Sue Monk Kidd pieced together a marvelous novel that many will love in upcoming generations with countless symbolic references and meanings that are read between the lines.

What Defines Fear?

Author's Note: This essay's purpose was to include text evidence from a novel in a piece, so I wrote a theme essay with supporting quotes from the novel Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.

When a mysterious twig of a woman that goes by the name of Katie suddenly shows up in the close knit town Southport, North Carolina, the small town begins to question her past. Praying to not make any personal connections with anyone, Katie finds a home that's tucked away in the area. With the fear of her past continuing to haunt her, prayers were answered with a man named Alex who teaches her the real truths of love. Katie slowly lets down her guard, but she can't escape the fact that her abusive relationship will always be a threat. Throughout this novel, Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks, Katie, who previously went by the name of Erin, presents the theme of self-reliance in her earlier life which transitions into overcoming fear once her escape from her past is accomplished. This universal theme can follow the novel A Winter Dream, by Richard Paul Evans and Woods Runner, by Gary Paulsen.

Primarily, with the first theme of self-reliance, which focuses on Katie’s past, has her entwined in a relationship with a severe alcoholic and abusive husband, Kevin, who works as a police officer. While the hits from Kevin progressively increase, Katie, who is known as Erin at this time, develops her plan to escape, "In the bedroom, he was snoring within minutes, oblivious to her hatred of him, her hatred of herself. Oblivious to the money she'd been stashing away for almost a year or the hair dye she'd snuck into the grocery cart a month ago and hidden in the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink. Oblivious to the fact that in just a few days, if all went the way she hoped, he would never see or hit her ever again." (Page 147) Though this process is several times more difficult given her husband is a detective who prevents her from leaving the house in general alongside her meeting new people. Kevin refused to let Katie learn how to drive; he was her only means of transportation. Not only that but if Katie bought something herself, Kevin demanded the receipt and exact change. Discussing her past with her neighbor Jo, Katie talks about a "friend" who is constantly frightened due to the involvement of an abusive relationship, "'He used to drive by the house when he was supposed to be working, just to make sure she was there. He monitored the phone records and called all the time, and he wouldn't let her get a driver’s license.'" (Page 65) Lastly, Katie impressively poses that she still loves Kevin to drive her through the day with the least amount of hits possible, "She inhaled before offering a contented sigh, because she knew he wanted her to make those kinds of sounds." (Page 145) Overall, the clear point from this paragraph is how she showed her self-reliance skills by gathering enough resources, even with the challenges she was put against, to separate herself permanently from the relationship.

From one theme to another, the universal theme of self-reliance is transferred over to another universal theme of overcoming fear. When Katie arrived to Southport she was a toothpick, skinnier than imaginable. At night, nightmares arouse and day by day she lived hoping Kevin wouldn't show up at her door. Further example of her fears are in this quote, "The act was so familiar- putting two cups away after coffee in the morning- and for an instant, she felt engulfed by the life she'd left behind. Her hands began to tremble, and pressing them together she took a few deep breaths until they finally stilled." (Page 12) Katie had to overcome the fear of Kevin and his reappearance. This quote shows that she's went through these flashbacks many times before, and there will be times in the future that she will as well. At the time when she was at Southport, Katie met a man named Alex who helped her conquer her understandable fear. Alex was one of the contributors that allowed Katie to accept her past and overcome the fear to look forward to her future. Coming to simplistic terms on how Alex provided help, he loved her with all his heart. When she needed someone to cry her emotions to, he was there. Alex says to Katie, "'If you want to tell me about your past, I'm willing to listen and help in any way I can, but I'm not going to ask you about it. And if you don't want to tell me, that's okay, too, because, again- I never knew that person. You must have a good reason for keeping it a secret, and that means I'm not going to tell anyone, either. No matter what happens, or doesn't happen, between us.'" (Page 122) For other times when she wanted to enjoy a gratifying day with Alex, he was also there to love and support her. Katie is thinking to herself the how she loves Alex while they're out on a date, "This is what it feels like to love someone, she thought, and to be loved in return..." (Page 129) Alex's desire to be with Katie and have her defeat her fears are essential points in supporting the theme of overcoming fear.

Strengthening the theme of overcoming fear, another person was very important to the triumph of Katie's fears. After a few months of Katie's arrival to Southport, she met a new neighbor named Jo who was also there to talk with Katie, showing up miraculously at the times when she most needed someone to talk with and listening better than anyone she's ever known. Shown in this quote is her remembering her time with Jo, "The steady rhythm of her footfalls set her mind adrift and she found herself reflecting on her conversation with Jo." (Page 41) Additionally in this next quote where Katie invited Jo over for a bottle of wine, Katie needed to get her story off of her chest to someone she trusts and she considered Jo trustworthy enough to hear it, "Katie could feel something twisting and tightening in her chest. 'Maybe they want to talk about it but they know there's nothing you can do to help,' she whispered." (Page 63) Almost as if Jo were the other half of Alex, she spent time with Katie through the tears and the laughter. Being a true friend to Katie, Jo also consulted Katie's relationship with Alex and encouraged her be with him. Jo and Katie carry a conversation about Alex where Jo is reassuring Katie that she's interested in him; the text begins with Katie speaking, "'What's his story, by the way? I take it he's divorced, right?' 'You should ask him.' 'Me? Why would I want to ask him?' 'Because you asked me,' Jo said, arching an eyebrow. 'Which means, of course, that you're interested in him.'" (Page 39) Through friendship, Katie is supported and learns to outshine the darkness of Kevin in her shadows.

Following the supporting evidence on how Katie's friends helped her overcome her fears, is knowing that she actually overcame that fear; this is vital to recognize as well. Near the ending pages of the novel, Kevin returns for Katie and attempts to kill her and Alex as well. Although when Kevin appeared, he was intoxicated and could barely walk a straight line; this didn't help when he was trying to fire his gun at Katie, "Kevin's eyes were feral, his movements jerky. He took a step toward them, almost losing his balance. The gun swung back and forth. Unsteady." (Page 312) Through the struggle that Katie and Alex went through to get rid of Kevin, it came to an end when Katie shot Kevin and once again the alcohol in his system only fought against him. The powerful act of Katie defending herself and killing Kevin raged with emotion. She felt relief and sadness all at once and Katie's brain went into a perplexed mental state. Even though her emotions were confused, it was clear that she has overcome her fear of Kevin. Through the point of view of Kevin, he describes the pain of the bullet Katie shot him with, which would symbolically represent how Katie overcame the fear of him, “He felt something then, burning in his stomach, fire. His left leg gave way and he tried to stay upright, but his body was no longer his own. He collapsed on the porch reaching for his stomach.” (Page 321) Continuing to support the new confidence of Katie, she thinks to herself, “No, she thought. I’ll never go with you. I never wanted to go back.” (Page 322) Moreover, she rose above all of the other fears of everything else she might’ve been fearful of. Though the quote is brief, it gives a strong message, “She knew what she saw. She knew what she believed.” (Page 341)

While comprehending the themes in the novel Safe Haven, identifying the comparisons between these universal themes in other novels is crucial as well. Other novels I read, A Winter Dream, by Richard Paul Evans and Woods Runner, Gary Paulsen, have the theme self-reliance that's moved to overcoming fear. Within the covers of A Winter Dream, the main character, Joseph, was kicked out of a large family business to hope he would struggle in the large city, Chicago. This required self-reliance because of the abandonment and unfamiliar surroundings Joseph had to deal with, all over the more challenging job that he was transposed to. The overcoming fear comes in when Joseph has to constantly hop places where he works and then finally return to family business to come face to face with his brothers to consult purchasing their business. In the next novel, Woods Runner, the main character, Samuel, finds himself all alone in the Revolutionary War when his parents are captured by the British. He relies on himself to find his parents and reunite with them. Simply explained, Samuel overcomes his fears by diving into the British's territory to steal back his parents.

After showing the relation of these universal themes in other novels, we realize that maybe the life we have isn’t too awful after all. Imagine being beaten by one you once loved, then finally escaping, yet, still having to live with the possibility of its reoccurrence hangs in the air you breathe. Thankfully, in this piece, the once self-reliant woman conquers the terrors of her past. Though it is a fictional story, the messages sent through the universal themes of the novel provide wonderful examples to people around the world.

Willow

Standing tall and strong, I am a willow tree.

Though my roots beneath me remain hidden,

I outreach my arms to others,

All the way to their base.

Whispering of wind flows in my ears.

As my sways illustrate their song,

My branches embrace too much.

Until the end of me,

I will love.

Blackness

Author's Note: This piece I wrote in the point of view of someone with severe depression, and what could be the worst of it. This piece is ficticious and is a creative piece.

With school folders in hand, the muted hallways scream in my ears and I wonder why I was born once again. While passing the couples that swear they're in love and friends that sound like a broken record reciting their times together every time they meet eyes, my mind wants dissolve and my stomach begins to eat away at itself. Inside me, my gut rumbles as it's calling for food, but I know better than to give in to the pain. One day, I hope, my starvation will pay off towards a leaner body. Nonetheless, I deserve the suffer my diet is punching me with. Continuing to walk face down, I lunge for my locker ignoring the laughter that I'm sure is aimed at my obesity. I feel my cheeks flush and as soon as I open my locker, I tug at my backpack and slop in my textbooks and journal. Wrapping my bag around my shoulders, I follow the tiles on the floor that lead me out of the school.

Throughout the bus ride home, my heavy heart only drops farther to the ground. My head leans on the fogged up window being rejected with every pothole the bus encounters. Amidst my thoughts, we pull up to my beaten up ranch style home and I step off the bus with the lingered bus exhaust surrounding me. Both of my hands are grasping the straps of my backpack with my fingernails digging into the stitching. Lining my driveway is a salty brown mush that blends into the blanket of snow layering over the ground. All of the trees are weighted down by thick buckets of white. Though I admit nothing compares to the weight I carry wherever I go, whatever I do. By the time I reach my front door, I stand there and come to a full summary on my life and how in the next few hours, I won't be in existence any longer; it's not like anyone will notice or care anyway. Examining the front door, I notice small details I haven't before. The moss green paint is peeling around the edges of the door and cracks are quite obvious in the molding. Precautiously, I turn around and scan up and down the road making sure no one was watching me and no one knows where I am. When all is silent, I acutely snap back to the door and shove my hand into my jean pocket grabbing a hold of the house key. Sticking the key in the silver handle, I whip my shoulder into the door and listen for the door's creak that gradually screeches louder.

"Hello?" I throw out into the blackness of the room and absorb that my voice sounds so alien to me for not using it the past few days. No one responded to my call, so I turned on the lights and ripped open my backpack for my journal and my black ball-point pen. As of now, I will proceed to paint a pleasing picture for the world by removing myself and all of the disgust that follows along with me. The pen, equal to the weight of my body, draws out my faintest memories from when I didn't know better than to be happy. Numbness surfaced my face when I noticed a damp part of the paper, where the words blurred together as if they were confused. Crowded in my throat is a lump of pain I let out in awkward hiccups. Outcrying to no one, my vision becomes disoriented and my cheeks are drenched with lonely sadness while the tears continue to rain down uncontrollably. I sign off my last farewell then drag myself over to the bathroom.

Last year, I was diagnosed depression pills for my constant bleakness. Instructions indicated that I'm highly recommended to swallow one pill right before I go to bed. Fearfully recalling this discipline, I stood in front of the mirror with knees that couldn't stay straight and with my eyes focused on the orange bottle of recently filled depression pills. Shaking like I have a terrible case of Parkinson's disease, I manage to wrap my hand around the bottle and twist off the cap. Attempting to quiet my tears, I set the bottle down to tie up my hair. For once I am grateful to be alone, for no one to see the mess of sobs and my last moments. Wiping my face I scoop up the medicine and spill out several pills, enough to do the job. Staring intently at the pills in hand, I listen to the silence of the house that helps drill in my decision. My elbow bends. My hand snaps. My throat swallows. Dropping the medication bottle, I fall to my knees and collapse on the ground, just laying there. Embraced by the cold floor, it pinches my skin and I realize that I can't move, but my eyes and ears are slightly functional. The bathroom entrance begins to appear fuzzy to me as I stare blankly out the door. When suddenly I hear something familiar, a door's creaking.

With the moments left I have to live and my rapidly decreasing knowledge of simplistic things, I recall who this person entering our house should be, my mother. I knew she would come home at one point. Confusion erodes my brain and I feel myself slipping away from reality even more. My mom calls out my name, as she would normally do, and her voice is left ringing in my ears over and over and over again. Dizzily I make out two brown shoes at the foot of the bathroom tile and hear a puzzled tone of voice coming from my mom. Once again, she repeated my name.

All at once, blackness overcame everything I ever knew and ever was.