Now that the novel has come to an end, compare and contrast your perception of (or feelings about) one character. How did it change from the beginning of the novel to the end? Remember, if it is a compare and contrast question, you must address both the similarities (comparison) and the differences (contrasts). You must use ONE quote to support each.
Deadline: February 24th by 11 p.m. (Be mindful of the date and time, as some of you are posting past the deadline, which cannot be awarded points).
14 comments:
One of the characters which I found that changed greatly during the novel is the stubborn, yet kind June. When Lily first arrived at the pink house, June was very hostile to her. Throughout the beginning chapters, June does not show any sign of recoiling her animosity. As shown in chapter six, page 111, while the residents of the house, as well as other guests, gathered up to touch Mary's heart, this incident occurred: "June kept playing while each of them came, until there was only Rosaleen and me left. May nodded to June to keep on with the music and took Rosaleen's hand, pulling her to Our Lady of Chains, so even Rosaleen got to touch Mary's heart… I wanted to touch her vanishing red heart, too… I walked toward black Mary with my hand lifted. But just as I was about to reach her, June stopped playing. She stopped right in the middle of the song, and I was left in the silence with my hand stretched out." This citation shows the revulsion and utter loathe June felt towards Lily. This action also shows that June does not accept Lily, in all aspects.
Towards the middle of the novel, June finally realizes how unfair she has been to Lily and shows her the kind and loving side of her nature; her true self. A few days after the Mary catastrophe, August and Lily were starting to attend to the bees together again. When they were walking back to the pink house, they saw Rosaleen and May joyfully playing with the sprinklers. They joined the water fight as well, and soon enough, June was in the doorway, staring at all of them. Without thinking, Lily sprays her with water, and they begin to wrestle for the sprinkler. What started as a prideful fight, ended as a peace treaty between them, as shown in chapter nine, pages 169-170: "She let go and sprawled back on the grass in convulsions of laughter. I plopped down next to her and laughed, too… I wasn't exactly sure of everything we were laughing about- I was just glad we were doing it together… I looked back down at the ground where our bodies had lain side by side, the wet grasses pressed down, perfect depressions in the earth. I stepped over them with the utmost care, and, seeing how careful I was, June stepped over them, too, and then, to my shock, she hugged me." This recollection of their reconciliation shows how June has changed from neglecting Lily, to finally accepting her as a friend.
Sorry, forgot to put this:
Yannel
Period 1
The character that i choose was Zach. When Lily first meets Zach he knows about the racism but isnt that ravaged. His similarities throughout the novel is that he is always focused and saying that he is going to be something big like a football player. He also does his job and good in school. However, after the insident at the theater that Zach went to jail for no reason, thats when his character changed. He now wasnt that boy that in page 120 Lily says, "Zach and I ate under the cool of the pine tree." Now he was like in page 216 Lily said " All he could talk about was going to law school and busting ass." Zach now had this anger in him and charged. So, from the beginning of the novel to the end Zach changed, from experiencing the jail and the black vs white but black losing.
Ana
Period: 1
Yannel, GREAT JOB!
Ana,
From the beginning, Zach wanted to be a lawyer. He did not like that Lily asked if he was going to be a professional football player. As a matter of fact, he asked Lily why white people assume that about young black men. Be careful here. At first, he was a little angry at the comments and what was going on, but towards the end, he was a little more bitter, and his comments reflected that. His tone had changed from acceptance to more of anger, sarcasm and bitterness. Really, I cannot blame the guy!
Keep tyring! You all can do it!
The character i would like to discuss is May. In the beginning, she was (and always was) a person that is easy to get along with. She always had a smile on her face from ear to ear. Towards the middle of the novel, she became more and more depressed, because so many bad things were happening. For instance," May, did you ever know a Deborah? Deborah Fontanel?" This quote indicates when Lily asked May if she knew a Deborah, which is her mother. Once this happens, May begins to change constantly.This is when i began to change my perspective of her. She became more depressed, until the child she loved so much(Zach) was arrested. That pushed her to the edge and she committed suicide. The way she stayed the same was that she was still herself. "She said it made her feel like a spanish flamenco. This quote shows how May's personality didnt change. Throughout the book, she's always cooking and laughing. May really brought light into each of the characters lives.
j.mendez, p.1
My feelings for June has changed from the beginning of the novel when she first meet Lily towards the end when she actually liked her and didn't mind her in the house. In chapter 5 page 85 it talks about the argument between August and June about Lily staying at their house. How June had already didn't like the idea about Lily staying there. June is telling August that Lily is lying and that she is in some kind of trouble. But, August knows that June is right but, she has a feeling about that and that she owed her that. Thats when June says," I don't see that we owe her anything." Then towards the middle if the book chapter 9, that is when June starts loosening up to Lily. I was a really hot summer day and August and Lily had just finished with the bee attending when they say May and Rosaleen playing with the sprinkler. They soon joined in and that when June came out. Without thinking Lily sprayed June and next ting you know June and Lily were fighting over the hose. Rosaleen had made a funny comment on how they looked and thats when June couldn't hold it in and the author explained, "August laughed, and i saw the softening come around June's eyes, how she was trying not to laugh, but it was like the Dutch boy pulling his finger out the dike-the minute she softened her eyes, the whole thing collapsed. . . She let go and sprawled back on the grass in convulsions of laughter. I plopped down next to her and laughed too. We could no stop I wasn't really sure of everYthing we were laughing about- I was just glad we were doing it together." Then it later says, " I stepped over the, with the uttermost care, and seeing how carful I was, June stepped over them, too, and then to my shock, she hugged me. June Boatwright hugged me..." This shows that June now cares for Lily and she got use to Lily being there
Diana M.
Pd.3
During The Secret Life of Bees, all of the characters made many changes. But the one that I felt changed the most was Zach. When he was first introduced to us, he was a very sweet yet tough young man. Not tough as in agressive tough, but in the sense that he was so passionate and sure about his future. He assured Lily that he was not going to become another African American football player, but a butt-busting lawyer. This passion about become a lawyer stayed the same and even grew larger during the rest of the novel. He was pretty angry about all the racial issues going on in the society but he grew more bitter as the novel progressed.
On July 28th, as told in chapter nine, Zach was arrested for something that he did not do. He stood up for his friend. This imprisonment made him change his character alot. It's as if his previous happiness and positive attitude had evaporated from his face as told by Lily in page 203. As I stated before, he became alot more bitter about the racial issues as the chapters went by. All he talked about now was going to law school and busting butt, clearly, white butt. Zach's conversations were now about the race riots, sit-ins, righteous causes, Malcom- X, and the Ku Klux Klan. Something that had not been there before- heated, charged, anger was now present. Lily says that "coming into his presence was like stepping up to a gas heater, to a row of blue fire burning in the dark, wet curve of his eyes". (page 216)Jail turned him into a more bitter young man, angry at the world. As if jail opened his eyes more to everything going on in society.
Esther
Period 1
The character that I choose is Lily. At first, I believed that she was dumb for leaving her house even though she thought she couldn't live with T-Rey anymore. Also, I didn't think that Lily was going to be able to make it with only Rosaleen by her side which didnt make much of a difference at this time. Throughout the novel, Lily began picking up clues and began making great decisions. For example, Lily was able to match the Black Mary that she had to the one on the jar in the store. In addition, I was suprised to see that she was able to sneak Rosaleen out of the hospital. Late in the novel, Lily finds a close friend named August Boatwright and her sisters, May and June. Rosaleen and Lily stayed at the boatwright's farm. Basically, the reason why I chose Lily is because I saw Lily as a young, dependent girl who was not going to be able to make it on her own. My opinion about her changed throughtout the book when I saw Lily became a mature and independent young lady.
Jovany U.
Period: 3
Well, I think June has really changed from the beginning of the story towards the end. At first, she was always depressed because of her job & mad at Lily for lying to her about her real identity. Then she had a change of heart and got to know Lily more and soon became friends with her. Plus, in the beginning chapters, June didn’t want to marry Neil. But when May’s dyeing wish was for her to get married to Neil, she bravely changed her mind and agreed to the marriage. But June is still a little stubborn about some things. I still don’t think she likes that Lily is still a white girl living in her home after all they did for her and she just kept lying about everything.
**Kaitlynn
***Period 6
In my eyes the character that changed greatly throught out the novel is Rosaleen.When she was first introduced she seemed rather slow, and rather un-educated. She also always made it seem as if she didnt really care. For example, in chapter one Lily tells her " Come look at this thing (a jar with a bee) fight." Rosaleen looked at the jar and said "If you get stung don't come whining to me, 'cause i ain't gonna care."
As the novel proceeds we begin to see another side of Rosaleen. We see the part that shows that eventhough she was known as the nanny for Lily and it also seemed as if Lily was the only friend she had, we notice that inside of her she really only needed someone like her. Someone her age, and someone her skin color. Thats why throught out the time that she spends in the Boatwright sisters house she becomes offically close to May. When May passes away, Lily noticed that Rosaleen had just then lost her best friend. In chp ten, page 194 Lily says moments after they find May, " I looked at Rosaleen, poor Rosaleen, who I realized had lost her new best friend, stood, not making a sound, but with her chin shaking so awful I wanted to reach up and hold it for her." At that moment is symbolized that Rosaleen during their stay at the pink house and grown such love and compassion towards the sisters.
All in all, in my eyes Rosaleen changed drastically. She went from being a rather rude woman to a woman that now see's the world in a different light. Shows that Lily was not the only person who learned new things along the way.
Karina
Per. 1
In the book The Secret Life of Bees, most of the characters attitude changed from the beginning of the book, to the end. In my opinion, one of the characters that changed the most was Rosaleen. At the beginning of the story Rosaleen didn’t have much confident in herself for the fact that she is a black woman. She usually felt offended very easily, for example, when she said to Lily “I’m supposed to follow you like a dog pet, because you act like if you are my keeper, like I’m some dumb nigger you gonna save.” Rosaleen told this to Lily after she took her out of the hospital and were heading to Tiburon; Lily was just trying to help Rosaleen when she did this, but she took it the wrong way, and felt very offended. By the end of the book, Rosaleen started changing her attitude. I think that since now she lived surrounded by other black strong woman, she felt like if there was where she belonged. Rosaleen feels happier and more confident with herself. At this moment in the story Rosaleen fells strong enough and not offended at all, and she decides to register to vote once again, and she expressed her enthusiasm by calling all the daughters of Mary and telling them, “I just wanted to tell you I am a registered voter.”
Mayara
Period # 1
The character that altered the most throughout the novel in my opinion is T-Ray. T-Ray had first started out as a nice person and was even said to worship Deborah, Lily's mother. In fact, on page 248
August says, "I don't think your father was always like he is now. Deborah told me about him. She loved the fact he was decorated in the war. He was so brave, she thought. Said he treated her like a princess." This quote supports my claim because it indicates that in the beginning T-Ray was a generous loving person.
After she had left, his whole world came crashing down and he bagan to change into a completely different person. At first my perception of T-Ray was almost the same as Lily's but towards the end I got where he's comming from. I believe he has a right to channel out his anger because day after day he is being reminded of his dead wife when he looks at Lily. Overall, I feel that T-Ray originally started out one way but by the time his wife died he ended up completely different.
hey mrs sorry if it is a minute later. see ya in class. :)
Jonathan L.
per.6
Well done, folks. What I like here is that you use evidence from the novel to support your claim. Great job! See, you all are ready for research papers :o)
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