Harry L.

Powell
Professor Witherspoon
English 102-07
April 17, 2015
Analyzing the Beehive
Does the name Gina Prince Bythewood mean anything to you? Have you ever heard or
know who this individual is. If you have read the New York Times best seller the secret life of
bees then this person has giving you an experience one like no other. It is a film that would melt
the hearts of millions of fans who read the story. She was responsible for the production of the
movie the secret life of bees. She and her team was able to take the book that was written by sue
monk Kidd and turn it into our reality. Most of times when books are recreated into movies they
generally fail to recreate the events that happen in the book and they take their on twist to the
movie; but we didnt see that with this book. Gina was able to capture the true essence of the
book. With the film being a major success the director Gina prince btyhewood was able to show
the exact relationship that lily experienced with T-ray, Zach, and Roselyn.
To begin with the film adaptation to capture the essence of lily & T-ray relationship was
spot on. In the beginning it showed how lily believed she was the cause for all of the T-Ray
problems. Lily doesnt know but T-ray started to become abusive after lily was born. Deborah
left T-ray to go stay with august. With the assumption that she was cheating changed t-ray way of
living. The film showed how t-ray blamed lily for everything. Lily would ask about her mother
and with a disgusted look on his face t-ray would give her a false answer. Lily would express her
pain from t-ray in her journal that she would write in. it is her dream to become a writer but t-ray
kills her dream by saying that he wont be paying for no college and she will work in the peach
stand selling their products. The movie did a good job capturing this moment. Lily experienced

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some memorable and painful moments that the book illustrated and the film was able to recreate
for example; lily would sneak out at night and head to the peach orchards. When she got to the
twenty second peach tree she would remove a hidden box from the ground that held a few of her
mothers items.(Kidd 22) She goes here so she can feel happy and at peace with the world, she
reminisce on the picture with her and her mother looking to see if t-ray was wrong about
everything he told her. As in the book the film showed the punishment t-ray gave lily when he
found her out in the peach orchard. T-ray makes lily kneel in grits for one hour showing us the
physical abuse he gave her. As we go in-depth further into the book we were able to see how lily
ran away from home because of the emptiness she felt in her heart. Settling in a new town she
wanted to know if t-ray was looking for her, she got her answer with one simple phone call. It all
came to an end after t-ray discovered where lily was. She received closure after t-ray told the
truth about Deborah. He cause so much problems for lily leaving there relationship tarnish. The
director was able to bring this reality as we watched the film.
Upon further reading in the book we read about the relationship lily developed with Zach.
Lily has begun working with august and soon her godson Zach comes along. (Kidd 118)A
mutual friendship was created but it soon developed into something more. In the film we see
how Zach and lily express to each other what their future goals were. With the assumption that
every black male wants to be a sports athlete made Zach discourage. As a reader we could
predict what they were going to do next. When we read about Zach and how he would take his
time as he worked with lily and the bees. It tells us as the reader and viewer that as time goes on
more will come with relationship they developed. Zach is a motivated African American male
with inspiration of becoming a lawyer. He gets help and guidance from a lawyer in the
community in exchange for a dozen of jars of honey; he even gives Zach his first law book to

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help him get started. Even though separation and racism was still around during this time you
had some whites that would help blacks out hence that whys Zach is taking the right steps to
pursue his dream. This film adaptation to capture how blacks were segregated was spot on. For
example we saw a glimpse of this shortly after Zach delivered the honey to his lawyer friend.
They went to catch a movie down at the local theater. They walked through separate doors but
they sat together when they got in. looking at how the movie describe the altercation that
followed was describe differently in the book. We read about how Zach was in the wrong place
at the wrong time with a group of his friends which cause him to be beating and thrown in jail.
These events play a big factor towards lily life because she feels responsible for all the bad
things that have happen to her and Zach. In return Zach also feels the same pain that lily feels
because he believes that he has cause problems as well. Things happen for a reason and if su
monk Kidd had change the way she told this part of the story it would throw of the whole
timeline of the story of. We witness the death of a mutual friend between lily and Zach and that
may Boatwright. Both of them believed she could have saved her life if they didnt do what they
did. The film adaptation to recreate the scene where Zach and lily shared their first kiss after
Zach returns home. It answered our question whether they were going to be life time partners.
Zach also committed his friendship relationship with lily with a new journal and his dog tag that
he wore around his neck. These items help symbolize that bond the two shares and no matter
what they will forever be in each other lives. Su mon Kidd left us a lot to ponder on because
even though Zach and lily didnt take their relationship to the next level we know that they will
continuing being friends due to that fact the Zach is august godson and will be helping out with
the bees once its time for honey season again. Lily is a lost soul inside and she will not rest as

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she continues to find answers to help her become a better person and friend everyone she
encounters in her life.
Gradually as we progress in the story we learned about two relationships that lily
developed in the story. Her abusive and dishearten relationship with t-ray and her peaceful yet
dangerous relationship with Zach. Most importantly the relationship that lily has cherished the
most is with Roselyn. An African American woman who is lily stand in mother even though
segregation was still going on during this time blacks were allowed to tend to the motherly duties
of the house. Su monk Kidd and Gina Blythewood capture the essence of lily and Roselyn
relationship in the book and in the film. We read about how Roselyn cooks and cleans for lily.
Having a mother figure is important to the development of a young woman. A mother guides her
daughter down the right path, letting her know that women can be successful despite her
appearance or physical attributes and Roselyn gives lily that love. The film adaptation shows us
the journey that any mother daughter relationship will go through. We read about the special
moments they have for example; lily doesnt even expect a gift for her birthday but Roslyn went
out of her way and made a cake for lily. A small gesture like that can change the way a person
feels. We witness the arguments that the two have and upon leaving to get Roselyn registered to
vote. One trait that we see lily has is compassion. When Roseleen was attacked by the three men
lily did everything in her power to break Roseleen out and ran away from home. We saw the
whole scenario unfold on screen as they traveled to Tiburon.(Kidd 36)When we read about
Roslyn we discovered that she is an individual that speak her minds. When she questions lily on
why she came back for her it made roseleen feel like she wasnt a factor in lily life. The bond
that they have no matter how bad things get between them they will never leave each other
behind. When Roslyn finds out that there going to Tiburon to help lily find answers about her

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mother she sticks by lily side the whole way through. Gradually as they progress to august
Boatwright house the relationships with lily and rosleen continues to grow stronger. They work
of their debt that they owe to august. Rosleen was there when lily found out the truth about her
mother and roseleen was there by lily side the whole way through.as I stated before roseleen was
that mother figure for lily and when she saw how lily was changing in front of her very eyes it
was a great feeling for rosleen to experience
As we approach the end we were able to read and see varies relationships that lily
developed over the course of the book. As a fan being able to read the book and watch the film it
showed how you can display the relationship of other people. Lily was on a quest to search for
answers and happiness. At the end she was able to get those answers from the relationship she
developed with T-ray, Zach and roseleen

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Works Cited
The Secret Life of Bees. Dir. Gina Prince-Btyhewood. Perf. Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning.
Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2008. DVD.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Viking, 2002. Print.
"The Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd Critical Essays Themes and Symbols of The Secret Life
of Bees." Themes and Symbols of The Secret Life of Bees. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.