Monday, April 27, 2009

Bees as a motif

What do you think is the significance of bees in the story? How do you think the secret life of bees relates to Lily's own life?

4 comments:

Hettie Betty said...

That's another thing I didn't get. The bees that Lily dreamt about coming into her room. What was that meant to mean? Was it a premonition? Was it her mother urging her to escape?
I thought it was funny in the interview with the author Nicole posted how she didn't even start out with the religious connection, it was just a lucky coincidence.

Nic said...

Who's secret life do you think they are paralleling? Lily's wasn't really a secret life, I guess, they knew who she was.

Nic said...

her mother's?

PJ said...

My thoughts were 1. the importance of the queen (the mother). When the queen dies, the hive goes haywire until a new queen is introduced and 2. the fact that the hive is mostly female....it seemed an important part of the book that Lily finds a home in an all-female community. There are a few men around, but they are like the "drones" in a beehive :-). I'm not sure about the part with the bees in her room...it seemed like a somewhat mystical experience.