As I was reading I felt myself focusing in on the bees. The bees represent a sort of background noise during the entirety of the novel. I felt that they illuminated the main character Lily. August told her (concerning the bees), “Don’t swat. Don’t even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates, while whistling melts a bee’s temper. Act like you know what you’re doing even if you don’t. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved.” Lily is very much like a bee. She doesn’t respond well to anything but love. It took months of care by August and her sisters to break down the walls around Lily and to give her the confidence to trust them and love them back. She was desperate for love, having never really been accustomed to it. “I wanted to make her (August) love me so she would keep me forever. If I could make her love me, maybe she would forget about Beatrix the nun going home and let me stay.” Lily felt that she had to force people to love her; that they wouldn’t do it willingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment