Something that struck me as I was reading The Secret Life of Bees was the contrast between two of the characters: Otis, the lone male who attends all of the functions of the Daughters of Mary, and T. Ray, Lily’s father. T. Ray tells Lily that reading and education are a waste of time for girls, takes no interest in letting her be stylish and do things to become popular. When he catches Lily in the woods one night, he says, “’I expect this out of boys, Lily—you can’t blame them—but I expect more out of you. You act no better than a slut’” (24). For T. Ray, being a girl makes Lily different. She can’t be educated and should act better than a boy simply because she’s female. Otis, on the other hand, is constantly surrounded by women in the book. Wherever the Daughters of Mary are, there he is too. He worships right alongside all of the women, not caring that they aren’t the same sex as him. He treats the women as equals, instead of as lower beings who should sit quietly and do housework. He pitches in and helps when there is work to be done instead of sitting and letting the women take care of it—he’s T. Ray’s perfect opposite.
Something that struck me as I was reading The Secret Life of Bees was the contrast between two of the characters: Otis, the lone male who attends all of the functions of the Daughters of Mary, and T. Ray, Lily’s father. T. Ray tells Lily that reading and education are a waste of time for girls, takes no interest in letting her be stylish and do things to become popular. When he catches Lily in the woods one night, he says, “’I expect this out of boys, Lily—you can’t blame them—but I expect more out of you. You act no better than a slut’” (24). For T. Ray, being a girl makes Lily different. She can’t be educated and should act better than a boy simply because she’s female.
ReplyDeleteOtis, on the other hand, is constantly surrounded by women in the book. Wherever the Daughters of Mary are, there he is too. He worships right alongside all of the women, not caring that they aren’t the same sex as him. He treats the women as equals, instead of as lower beings who should sit quietly and do housework. He pitches in and helps when there is work to be done instead of sitting and letting the women take care of it—he’s T. Ray’s perfect opposite.