Lily Melissa Owens

The character, Lily Melissa Owens, in The Secret Life of Bees, embodies humanity through her longing for love, acceptance, and her mother. While growing up in Sylvan, South Carolina, Lily has essentially no family except for her housekeeper, Rosaleen. Her father gives her nothing but a lack of love and appreciation and her mother, who was trapped in her marriage, was taken from her in a horrific accident. Her death haunts Lily through her self-confidence, strength, relationship with her father, and her relationships with her peers. Lily does not know the feeling of acceptance because her father and schoolmates look down on her. Nevertheless, Lily believes in her mother and knows she must embark on a journey to learn about her and the love she had for her daughter. In the novel Lily says, “This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away.”

“I heard a voice say, ‘Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open.’” When this voice came to Lily she let her desire for love and a fulfilling life sweep her off her feet and lead her on her path towards her mother. Lily possessed a picture, once belonging to her mother, of a black Mary with the words Tiburon, South Carolina on the back. This picture served as Lily’s compass on the journey that ultimately saved her. Lily and her housekeeper, Rosaleen, moved in with three black sister August, June, and May. August stepped in as Lily’s maternal figure, teaching her more about the world and herself that she had ever imagined. Many of August’s messages came through analogies involving her profession of beekeeping. Lily spent time growing and learning to accept the compassion of August and her sisters.

When Lily knew that August’s love for her was unshakable she became comfortable enough to inquire about her mother. Her yearning for love and acceptance had been granted, however her mother was a different story. When Lily learned that her mother was very close with August and that she had left her with her father to move in with August, Lily was crushed. Lily’s mother was extremely unhappy in her marriage and felt she could only save herself by leaving. This included leaving Lily behind in Sylvan. This information was too much for Lily to process calmly, consequently she responded with, “‘I hate her, I do I hate her. She wasn’t anything like I though she was.’ I’d spent my life imagining all the ways she’d loved me, what a perfect specimen of a mother she was. And all of it was lies. I had completely made her up.” Lily reacted as any average person would, after believing in someone for her whole life and then being let down like she was with the truth, she was distraught and was very hard on herself. In the beginning Lily chose to believe that her mother never wanted her and Lily wanted to erase her from her life. It took Lily, as it would anyone, time to understand the condition her mother was in at the time she left. Lily had to come to terms with the fact that her mother was depressed and it was not her fault. She regained the strength that August had helped build in her to forgive her mother and reaccept the love she had for her. As the novel closes Lily is a strong, confident, compassionate, accepted, and loving young woman. Lily sees the world through fresh eyes knowing that her mother and those that count in her life will always be there with her (600).

Scar Tissue

As a child, I loathed reading because I was a very slow reader. I was constantly struggling and avoiding all my reading assignments. It was not until the seventh grade that I began to read regularly every night before bed. I enjoyed reading but it was not an activity I felt any passion for. Being a social person, it took me awhile to discover the joyful solitude I now find in reading. I believe the love I have found in books has been a developmental process that has occurred as I have grown older and come into my own. I have become very confident and comfortable with myself and I feel that reading is a pleasure that has ignited within me during my high school years.


The book, Scar Tissue, made me love to read in a way I had never imagined I would. I am an avid Red Hot Chili Peppers fan so I was immediately drawn to the book purely because it was written by the band’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis. The fever in which he is living his life completely captivates me. Throughout my entire experience with the book, I was constantly excited turning every page. I had never declined other opportunities in order to read until I read Scar Tissue. Kiedis makes the reader a part of his life journey from the sad, heart-wrenching details of his drug addiction to his now positive, spiritual, and clean lifestyle. I respected him the entire time I was reading his story. Even though he made irresponsible decisions, he was able to change his life to represents a person that I think all people should strive to be; a person who has found his passion and worked at it. Kiedis is an individual who has become the best version of himself all while possessing so much love for everything and everyone in his life. I could not help but love his stories, philosophies, creativity, and writing.


After I read Scar Tissue, reading took on an entirely new meaning for me. It has become a chance to reflect on myself in perfect solitude. This solitude is unlike any other because although I am alone, I do not feel completely isolated as a result of the characters and ideas that flow from the literature. I believe that reading can help a person grow just as personal experiences can; both teach new ideas and show different opinions and beliefs. Scar Tissue had helped me grow not only through the message I took away from it but also because of the love of reading it sparked within me (435).