The Secret Life of Bees Group

Question:

kingcatfish
kingcatfish
Student
High School - 11th Grade

How do the words brave and motherly describe August in The Secret Life of Bees?

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Posted by kingcatfish on Saturday May 23, 2009 at 9:58 PM and tagged with august, characters.

Answers:

  1. speamerfam
    speamerfam Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    August is brave and motherly for many reasons.  She takes in Lily and Rosaleen and mothers them as though they were her own children.  She mothers her sisters and Zeke, too. She even mothers the bees by loving them.  She mothered Deborah when she took care of Deborah when Deborah was young and mothered her again when Deborah left T. Ray. SHe mothers the Daughters of Mary, too. In fact, August really is the queen bee of the story, and her "hive" could not manage without her.  Her bravery is shown in many ways.  It is not a dramatic bravery, but a quiet and constant bravery.  She is an African-American woman who runs her own business and owns her own land, which in those days, was a brave and powerful thing to do.  She faces the trials of everyday life and the discrimination and fear present in the Sixties in the rural South.  She faces the bees, which I think is really brave, on a continuing basis, without fear.  There are many examples of August being brave and motherly in the book.  These are just a few! 

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/secret-life-bees

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    Posted by speamerfam on Sunday May 24, 2009 at 7:15 AM