The Secret Life of Bees
The Secret Life of Bees is a novel by Sue Monk Kidd that illustrates the issues of betrayal, racism as well as accepting people despite having differences. The book's setting is in 1964 and depicts issues as they appeared at the period whereby Sue significantly addresses racism as well as the civil rights movements. Besides, Kidd demonstrates the story of Lily, a girl who killed accidentally at a young age and lives with her abusive father. Due to its themes' essentiality, the novel was later directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood into a movie in 2008. The film illustrates the same themes in the book; hence it demonstrates the same issues as the ones in the novel. The film and the book are indeed similar. However, they also have disparities between them due to Gina Prince-Bythewood's alterations even though the argument of The Secret Life of Bees remains unchanged.
How Is the Novel Similar To the Film?
The film The Secret Life of Bees directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood shows Lily as a young girl who is well depicted in the film. The film also takes place during 1964 in South Carolina whereby Gina demonstrates the civil rights movements and Lily's unstable family as it was during that period. The location of where Gina shoots the film and the infrastructure adequately satisfies the imagery that Kidd used in depicting the period of the story (Kidd 2). Besides, Kidd explains Lily's family as an unstable one in the book whereby violence is rampant which is also evidently notable in the film.
The film by Gina further shows similarity to the novel The Secret Life of Bees
since the characters' names used in both the book and the movie are all the same. The theme of pain caused by the loss and lack of understanding as to why situations happen is prevalent in the book which also appears significantly in the film. Additionally, racism which is associated with civil rights movements and was also a major concern in the mid-20th century was satisfactorily represented by Kidd to depict solid themes that represent the period (Kidd 36). Similarly, the film mainly illustrated the themes adapted from the book and sufficiently portrayed racism by using characters of different races to show more substantial arguments.
How Is The Book Different From The Film?
Kidd depicts Zach and Lily as two intimate characters in the book, but on the other hand, the film portrays them as nothing more but friends (Kidd 44). Besides, Gina illustrates Zach and Lily going to the movies to hang out. Zach who has a different racial identity from Lily invites her to the colored section of the movies which shows the prevalence of racism nevertheless. At the movies, Zach is assaulted by white men for taking Lily to the colored area of the cinema whereas she is a white girl. On the other hand, Kidd does not illustrate in the book the theme whereby these two characters attend movies.
Another disparity between the book version and the film version of The Secret Life of Bees is the theme whereby Gina portrays May assisting Lily by offering to do hair. In this scene, May narrates how she ended up getting plenty of kisses at the age of fifteen from a boy that she had baked 7-Up cake. Lily shares with May the issue of her abusive father who she wishes was more compassionate like May. Ideally, Kidd does not demonstrate this theme in her novel. The book shows Lily being locked up in jail which solidifies their connection with Zach who also goes to jail too (Kidd 9). Comparing this theme from the book to the film, Gina does not use it.
What Do You Think Is The Argument Of The Secret Life Of The Bees?
Kidd used bees as part of her title which does not have a direct relationship with the issues represented in this novel. Similar to the title of the book, quotations about bees by the author were prevalent in every chapter and appeared metaphorically. The outcomes of each chapter in the novel have connections with the quotations that Kidd used to begin each one of them. The purpose of the bees is to represent the women of South Carolina in 1964 who appeared to establish and nurture vital as well as close relationships resembling these insects. However, their secretive nature is a continuous challenge. August demonstrates to Lily the essentiality of beekeeping which depicts good values in one's personality such as not swatting the bees since that would adversely affect their productivity which in turn reflects on how people ought to behave knowledgeably.
By metaphorically using bees to represent women and their challenges in life, Kidd also argues by the use of themes that misfortunes such as death do pave the way for a better life even though it does not apply always. The prevalence of death in the book defines both the positive and negative implications for the living. Another argument in this novel is the problem of racism which significantly affects the daily relations of people, and ideally, Kidd argues that skin color does not offer a basis for discrimination since people are all the same on the inside. Besides, for worker bees to function correctly, the presence of the queen bee is vital. On the other hand, the survival of the queen bee is dependent on the productivity of the worker bees which depicts an interrelation between both of them. Ideally, for humans to realize a harmonious and beneficial life amongst one another, Kidd argues that an interrelation like the one in bees is critical.
Conclusion
The Secret Life of Bees primarily uses metaphors, imagery, and symbolism to enhance the delivery of the lessons that Kidd illustrates. Both the film and the book bear the same argument, but they differ in some aspects of conveyance of the themes since author significantly altered various parts. Nonetheless, the book remains more detailed than the film because some themes are well illustrated than those in the film which missed some details.
Works Cited
Kidd, Sue Monk. The secret life of bees. Penguin, 2003.
