Morgan McMahan

Topics in Lit

Journal # 5

The Secret Life of Bees

A main topic we have explored through our class discussions and readings is the act of forgiveness, and what causes someone to desire to be forgiven. We have read about a man, in the Welty narrative, who murders someone and has no remorse at all for his actions. We have also explored stories where, with great sorrow, loved ones have died and where a mere acquaintances lost their lives. In all these stories there is death, and in death comes the topic of forgiveness.

In the first part of The Secret Life of Bees, we find out that Lily’s mother is dead, and that it was Lily that shot her. In this instance, forgiveness is a little more complicated. Lily didn’t mean to shoot her mother, she most likely meant to shoot her father, but accident or not, she still killed her mother. This makes me wonder, does Lily want forgiveness for what she did? I don’t think she does. Also, if she did want forgiveness, could anyone left on the earth grant her that? My answer would have to be no. Lily is the person that suffers the most from her mother’s death. She has to live with her cruel father who shows no love toward her, and a slave/nanny that is her closest bond to another human. If Lily has to forgive anyone, I think she would have to forgive herself.

I think sometimes forgiving ourselves is the hardest forgiveness to allow. When someone else does something wrong, and they repent for what they have done, you can understand, through their explanation, what happened and why they did what they did. Then you may choose if you want to forgive, as the wronged party. But, when you hurt yourself, it makes it much more difficult to reason your actions and ask yourself for forgiveness. This is one topic I don’t think we have really discussed in class. If you have ever done something truly bad, can you ever forgive yourself? I wonder how I would feel, in Lily’s circumstances, longing for my mother that is no longer alive because of my own doing? I can’t fathom the guilt I would harbor.

In the case of T. Ray, I don’t think he cares what Lily did. I would guess that he is happy she is dead. A man with such anger and abusive qualities was probably enraged to know that his own wife left him, and having her gone now, doesn’t make it seam like she left him for a better life (at least not one on earth.) If Lily hadn’t accidentally shot her mother, I wonder if T. Ray would have killed her himself. And in that case, I wonder how Lily would have felt towards him. Would she have forgiven him?

I have never realized the complications of forgiveness until exploring them recently through this class. I find myself always wondering and questioning many different things. In the case of this novel, and what we have read so far, I would say that this might be the most complicated analysis of forgiveness. Whether Lily realizes it or not, she must have a great amount of guilt for killing her mother, but I hope to find that she realizes this burden and allows herself to be set free from it.