The novel The Secret Life of Bees is about a girl that is named Lily Owens and is living with her abusive father which is named T. Ray. Her housekeeper, Rosaleen, is a person who cares for Lily and is more of a craetaker to Lily. Lily plans to run away from T. Ray and get Rosaleen out of a hospital as she was hit in the head by a group of white men trying to register to vote.
As the story in the novel continues, the author shows the relationship between Lily and Rosaleen in many ways. The author shows this in many ways, for example, Rosaleen is always caring and tender towards Lily, she also stands for up for Lily and herslef and was brave enough to do so against T. Ray but, thier relationship is also complex with each other in many different ways.
Furthermore, in the novel, thier were many parts in the story that showed that Rosaleen is tender and caring towrds Lily, for instance, Lily says that I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways her heart was more tender then a flower’s skin and she loves me beyond reason. This quote shows that Rosaleen is caring and it is also another use of flowers as a figure or image.
Also, Rosaleen is very brave and protective when she has to. When Lily was 8, Rosaleen had given Lily a easter dyed chick, when T. Ray finds out, he had threaten to boil the chick for dinner. However, Rosaleen stands up to T. Ray and says There is worse things in the house than chicken poop. When she looked towards the chick then at him, she said You ain’t touching that chick. This goes to show that Rosaleen is capable of defending herself and other people she cares about. Another section of the novel that shows her braveness is when she meets 3 racist men when she was on her way registering to vote. In response to their comments, she scribbles her name in scuff juice on their shoes. This had caused her to land a blow coming from one of the men and be sent to the hospital but, this part of the novel showed that Rosaleen is bold and pasionate, in addition it also shows that she is not afraid to defend herslef.
