Jenny Davis

Journal 7

July 7, 2010

“The Secret Life of Bees” is a historically fictionalized look at the racism that was still present in the 1960’s. Although slavery had been abolished nearly 100 years prior the cruelty towards the black community was still at large. So far in this story I have seen two acts of what I would consider a combination of the common man and police racism. Black’s were not given much of a chance in these days.

This passage is symbolic of the political injustice that black men and women were forced to endure at this time. This is just another example in the book. Rosaleen’s experience at the beginning was of the same. Rosaleen was not given a trial, the white man’s word was taken, and although her act did not warrant an arrest, she was arrested. “Crime” by a black man towards a white man was not taken lightly. The same has happened to Zach a young teenage black boy who works with Lily at the bee farm.

Zach is with a group of boys. There is a group of white men across the street jeering at the boys. One boy makes a smart remark and the white man comes over to threaten the black boys. One of the boys throws a bottle of pop at a white man and breaks his nose. The white man demands to know which boy had done it, but none of the boys will rat the other out. The boys all understand that no matter what there will be an unfair punishment.

When I first read this passage I did not understand why the black boy would break the white man’s nose or even say anything to provoke him to begin with. But, then I realized it was to make a point, the same as Rosaleen’s situation. If all of the blacks would have merely lay down to the white man the unfair treatment of blacks would have never changed. Someone had to make a stand.

Another point of my confusion was why the three boys would take the punishment of the one who committed the act. They could have gone free if they would have ratted him out. But, the situation was much bigger than this. The black’s were treated wrongly no matter what they did, therefore the four boys stood together in order to make a point, and take tiny step for all blacks in the direction of their true freedom in a society that catered to the white man.

At the beginning of the story when Rosaleen was arrested Lily has a hard time figuring out why Rosaleen acted the way she did when she knew that she would be severely punished. I believe that Zach’s incident is not only symbolic of the white man’s cruelty and the way the black man had to stand up and make a point, but of Lily’s growth throughout the book. She begins to understand why. These injustices would have never ceased if the blacks did not stand together and push the buttons of the law to set an example and take a step forward.