Prompt:
The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness. Man and Insect (Ch. 1)
Response Requirement:
--In what ways is this quote relevant to the first chapter? Analyze it metaphorically and include details from the text to support your analysis.
Friday, March 5, 2010
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This quote is relevant to the first chapter because the queen bee is like Lily’s mother. When her mother died Lily felt different after she had been gone after a while and could tell things weren’t going to be the same. This quote is saying to me that Lily’s mom is the queen bee and Lily is the worker and knows she is gone so she starts to feel different about things like life and knows nothing will be the same. Once her mom died Lily could feel an absence in the house and knew that things could get bad after her parents had that fight and once her mom died it was about to get worse. The only thing that was keeping her house together and working was her mom being there and making things better and now that she’s gone it will change and T.Ray might change things in the house for the worse. Her mom kept everything together like a queen bee.
ReplyDeleteThis quote from the first chapter of the novel can mean alot.For me it means that without Lilys's mother, no one can fully cope and move on with there lifes. Lily has to go in a field of peaches every week to feel like her mother is there protecting her from her evil father T.Ray. Even he cant get over the loss of his wife, but he probally treated her poorly too when she was alive...So he might not even care...
ReplyDeletePrompt:
ReplyDeleteThe queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness. Man and Insect (Ch. 1)
Response Requirement:
--In what ways is this quote relevant to the first chapter? Analyze it metaphorically and include details from the text to support your analysis.
I believe that this quote goes along with the absence of Lily’s mom in her daily life. Lily was left without a mother and given a heavy burden of guilt. T. Ray seemed to have been kept under control when the mom was around. I think Sue Monk Kidd was using the queen bee as a metaphor for Lily’s mom and the workers as Lily and her father. Lily and T. Ray had been unified by Deborah, yet when Deborah was accidentally killed everything spun out of control like a balloon being released of air. The tension had been there before yet it was under control.
Lily even states that you can tell that a girl lacks a mother by looking at her hair. Also, Lily doesn’t have any fashion sense and her father doesn’t seem to even care whether she wears things she made herself in school. Lily doesn’t receive that much love or kindness from T. Ray which her mother seemingly gave to her. Lily’s mom would hold her and protected her from T. Ray’s wrath. Over all, this revolves around the idea of Lily’s mom being the one in charge and holding everything together. But when she is accidentally killed, everything seems to crumble and chaos breaks loose. Lily and T. Ray are just like the workers because the absence of the queen bee is still evident.
This quote is relevant to the first chapter. Its shows that the queen of the hive is not always there. When Lily said that the bees come at midnight. They were swarming in one corner of Lily’s room, but her mom said that it was because the bees were dying away, and will not come back anymore. The queen bee will not return because her family is dying and will not be able to return to her.
ReplyDeleteThis will kill the bee population and we will not have honey or any food that has honey in it.
This quote relates very much so to the first chapter of The Secret Life of Bees. I think the “queen bee” they are talking about here is Lily’s mom. I believe this because as soon as she died, Lily’s life fell apart. She had nobody there to look up to, since her dad wouldn’t listen to anything she said or help Lily with any issues she had. Lily and her father have to deal with not having the queen bee in their lives, and have to find a way to keep their lives on track without her. It is hard, because she ran their lives, like a queen bee runs the lives and actions of all the lower down bees. Lily says on page 3 for example, “You can tell which girls lack mothers by the look of their hair. My hair was constantly going off in eleven wrong directions, and T. Ray, naturally, refused to buy me bristle rollers …” Since she has no queen bee, or mom, to help her and tell her how to do stuff, she has to figure it out on her own, or just not do it. Lily’s dad also reacted to the absence of the queen bee. He punishes Lily for everything she does, and she is very protective of her. “He didn’t believe in slumber parties or sock hops, which wasn’t a big concern as I never got invited to them anyway, but he refused to drive me to town for football games, pep rallies, or Beta Club car washes, which were held on Saturdays … I might as well have worn a sign on my back: I AM NOT POPULAR AND NEVER WILL BE,” Lily states on page 8. She needs that queen bee in her life to take her to these things or go clothes shopping with her, but she is lacking it. She doesn’t have any friends because her dad doesn’t allow her to do anything, and won’t spend money on buying her clothes, so she has to make her own. Normally dads don’t need to do these things for there kids, because their moms are there to show them how to do it, but Lily needs her dads support and help considering her mom is not able to.
ReplyDeleteHow this quote relate to the first chapter is how the queen was removed from the hive which showed Lily's mother being killed, and it made the workers sad which made Lily sad as well when her mother was killed.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote means that when Lily's mother died her father use to hurt her mother and now since her mother isn't there to protect her that her father, or T. Ray will hurt Lily. It seems like T. Ray use to hurt Lily and her mother because on page five and six it says, "her mother told her to hurry while was loading up her bag as if she was ready to leave the housed with Lily. T. Ray took Lily to the next room and screamed at her to go to her room. Her mother told her father to leave Lily alone and she took a gun a aimed it at Lily's father. He stole the gun and aimed it back at her mother and pulled the trigger.When Lily's mother told him to leave her alone he pushed her against the wall causing her to fall on the floor. She started in to the room not knowing in a minute her mother would be died. T. Ray took the gun from Lily's mom and aimed it at her and pulled the trigger."
ReplyDeleteTo me this part in the book makes me think badly of T. Ray and not of Lily and her mom.
I think that this quote relates a lot to what has happened in chapter one. In chapter one, it basically introduces Lily and her family, as well as the BEES. In the first chapter, Lily tells us that she accidentally killed her mother. It was a huge mistake and she will regret it for the rest of her life probably. The quote relates to this chapter, because her mother was very close to Lily during the four short years Lily knew her. Lily’s mom was a wonderful person and Lily knew that to. As for the queen, it would have to be Lily’s mother, and she is the unifying part of the community. When her mother had passed away, Lily was stuck with her ungrateful mean father. When Lily’s mother was killed, or removed from the hive, the hole family relieved that they needed her, and sensed her absence very quickly. Lily knew that it was going to be very hard for her to live by herself with her father. Her father was very cruel, annoying, and very mean. He didn’t even like Lily. “A few hours or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlesssness” this means that one her mother was gone, she knew that it was a huge mistake and that their will be no more queen living in their house anymore, their home was queenlessness. I felt very bad for Lily that she will no longer have a mother. Even as a child, she called her father T-Ray, which is not a good sign as to how he is going to react to all this change. I hoe that Lily can make it through, until she can go off on her own and live somewhere else. I have faith in Lily, she seems as a very smart girl who know what to do, and what is coming. I think that this quote relates a lot to what has happened in chapter 1. In chapter one, it basically introduces Lily and her family, as well as the BEES. In the first chapter, Lily tells us that she accidentally killed her mother. It was a huge mistake and she will regret it for the rest of her life probably. The quote relates to this chapter, because her mother was very close to Lily during the four short years Lily knew her. Lily’s mom was a wonderful person and Lily knew that to. As for the queen, it would have to be Lily’s mother, and she is the unifying part of the community. When her mother had passed away, Lily was stuck with her ungrateful mean father. When Lily’s mother was killed, or removed from the hive, the hole family relieved that they needed her, and sensed her absence very quickly. Lily knew that it was going to be very hard for her to live by herself with her father. Her father was very cruel, annoying, and very mean. He didn’t even like Lily. “A few hours or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlesssness” this means that one her mother was gone, she knew that it was a huge mistake and that their will be no more queen living in their house anymore, their home was queenlessness. I felt very bad for Lily that she will no longer have a mother. Even as a child, she called her father T-Ray, which is not a good sign as to how he is going to react to all this change. I hoe that Lily can make it through, until she can go off on her own and live somewhere else. I have faith in Lily, she seems as a very smart girl who know what to do, and what is coming.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote relates a lot to what has happened in chapter 1. In chapter one, it basically introduces Lily and her family, as well as the BEES. In the first chapter, Lily tells us that she accidentally killed her mother. It was a huge mistake and she will regret it for the rest of her life probably. The quote relates to this chapter, because her mother was very close to Lily during the four short years Lily knew her. Lily’s mom was a wonderful person and Lily knew that to. As for the queen, it would have to be Lily’s mother, and she is the unifying part of the community. When her mother had passed away, Lily was stuck with her ungrateful mean father. When Lily’s mother was killed, or removed from the hive, the hole family relieved that they needed her, and sensed her absence very quickly. Lily knew that it was going to be very hard for her to live by herself with her father. Her father was very cruel, annoying, and very mean. He didn’t even like Lily. “A few hours or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlesssness” this means that one her mother was gone, she knew that it was a huge mistake and that their will be no more queen living in their house anymore, their home was queenlessness. I felt very bad for Lily that she will no longer have a mother. Even as a child, she called her father T-Ray, which is not a good sign as to how he is going to react to all this change. I hoe that Lily can make it through, until she can go off on her own and live somewhere else. I have faith in Lily, she seems as a very smart girl who know what to do, and what is coming.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this quote means that Lily’s mom, Deborah, was the queen bee. She helped hold everything together, and connected Lily with T. Ray. This made her death extremely tragic. Now that she is gone, the family feels helpless. They no longer have anything in common with one another. Worst of all, they don’t even feel like a family. They have Rosaleen, who is an amazing character and all- but she just isn’t the same. She isn’t Lily’s birth mother, and she most certainly is not T. Ray’s wife!! One time when T. Ray and Lily sensed her absence most was when Lily was going to begin school. T. Ray was didn’t want people talking to Lily about her mother’s killing because he didn’t want her to change her point of view on the subject. If her mom was still there, none of this would’ve happened. Lily would start school normally, and have her hair nicely combed along with some beautiful dresses instead of the Pentecostal ones. The unmistakable signs of queenlessness that T. Ray and Lily show are that they don’t have a positive relationship- they are more or less a dysfunctional family, if you would even consider them a family. T. Ray is afraid of showing his emotions and the most care he has expressed towards Lily is worrying about her not getting pregnant at 14. They can’t show each other how they feel and I doubt they have even hugged each other goodnight since the absence of the Queen. The fact that Lily accidentally shot her mother creates even more tension between them, and T. Ray is constantly hurting Lily, whether it is physically or emotionally. A hive of bees without their queen is not really a hive at all.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter Lily continuously thinks that she killed her mother at age 4. She now about to turn 14 and does not have a mother is only with her cruel father and loving Nanny Rosaleen. She is aware that she loves her like a mother since one Easter and she gave her a pet chick and T-Ray refused to let Lily have it. Rosaleen stood up to T-Ray and said that lily should have the chick. Also, when Martin Luther King was arrested and the Civil Rights Act was signed Rosaleen and Lily went into town to vote and 3 white men came up to them and started too purposely spill Tobacco on their shoes. I am not sure if this will help Rosaleen not have to deal with raciest people or “open up a whole new can of worms”.
ReplyDeleteGentleGiant8
This quote is very relevant to the first chapter. In the first chapter, Lily tells about the last and first day that she remembers of her mother. Lily described her mother’s death and how she is now only living with T. Ray. Metaphorically, the queen in the quote is Lily’s mother. She is the reason why the family was able to get along together. The hive signifies their home. Once Lily’s mother was taken away from their home, the “workers,” meaning the family, quickly changes. Their happiness is lost and replaced with annoyance for each other. It becomes very difficult for the “workers” to get along, being that they have just lost their queen. The queen, the mother, that guided them.
ReplyDelete“If she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence.” I think that this one part of the quote has a strong meaning. This is because in the first chapter Lily talks about how her mother died and she felt that if she did it. It was all by mistake her mother was like the queen bee to her, she felt lonely with her absence. She tries to remember what life was like when her mother was a live, but she can never seem to remember everything. Then she talking about seeing bees all around her room, and somehow they never sting her, they could kill her to death with her but somehow they never do; she points it out. I think these bees symbolize her mother and show that she is there protecting her. That’s the part of this quote that relates to thins chapter.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is relevant to the first chapter in many ways. One was when Lily Owens went to go tell her dad, T. Ray, that there were a swarm of bees in her room. All of the bees had a sense that she was gone and went to go get someone to send all of the bees away. When she came back all of the bees were gone. If Lily Owens needs her fathers help he will think that she is making stuff up. When he needs her for something he will do anything to make her do it, even give her a form of punishment. Lily Owens is like the queen to the hive and they know when she is coming and going.
ReplyDelete"The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community..." When finished reading with the first chapter, I feel the queen is Lily's mother, Deborah. When she died, Lily felt empty. There was no connection between her and her father. I also believe Lily doesn't think she would be able to take over the throne because the smallest things she does that show signs of feminineness make T. ray extremely mad. For example, one night Lily sneaks out of her house to the orchard onto the eight row left of the tractor shed, counting trees until the thirty-second where Lily kept her mother's belongings, the picture of the black Mary and her mother's white gloves. Soon after, Lily could hear her father coming, and knew she'd be in for some trouble. T. Ray thought she went out to meet some boy when really just wanted some time alone to remember her mother. Lily also feels lucky, though, to have Rosaleen in her life so she has some sort of friendliness with a woman. Rosaleen is kind enough to remember Lily's birthday and brings her an angel cake with fourteen candles, which makes Lily feel tens times better knowing she has someone thinking about her that gives her the feeling her mother once had, being the queen. T. Ray has Lily working hard in positions men should be up to doing, not teenage girls. Lily loves reading and writing all sorts of things, but T. Ray takes that away from her because he believes it's a waste of time and doesn't believe in college. The main reason Lily feels queenlessness is because she has no mother around to direct her for such a position, and without her around and her father always there, she is given no chance to succeed in what she believes is the right path for her and any other girl.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is relevant to the chapter because when she told T-Ray to look at the bees in her room, he came to look. Then when he came into the room they were all gone and T-Ray got really mad. In the passage is said that when one leaves everyone notices, and in this case the “everyone” was T-Ray. That is how this quote relates to the first chapter story overall.
ReplyDeleteThe Quote above is relevant to the first chapter because it is a comparison of how lily lost her mother and has no idea what to do with T. Ray, her father. She is not allowed to go to prep rallies, football games, or sock-hops. Just like a bee would be clue less with out its queen bee.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is relevant to the first chapter because when Lily’s mother was murdered, Lily’s family was torn apart. Once a queen bee is gone, then the workers of the hive would change. Lily’s mother is like the Queen Bee. When Lily saw her mom dead, her entire view of things changed, especially her father. Lily remembers T. Ray smiling at her when they were at church and she was singing with the hymnbook upside down. She thought he had loved her, but throughout the years all Lily sees is a face full of anger. T. Ray became meaner towards Lily throughout her life. When Lily’s mom died, the entire town quickly knew about it too. Lily had loved her mom a lot too, so when her mom was taken away from her, most of Lily’s love was being taken away from her. This is what I think how the quote is relevant to the first chapter.
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