Rights, Voting Rights & Discrimination in Secret Life of Bees

What rights are violated in The Secret Life of Bees?

Literature is a form of art, and like every form of art, literature is one of expressions of ideas and thoughts like humanity and its development. Authors usually want to draw attention to issues faced by humans in order for us to help address them or at least bring awareness to their existence and criticality so that they can be mitigated. One of the works of literature that does just that is The Secret Life of Bees.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

-- Martin Luther King Jr.

Rights Violated In The Secret Life of Bees

Throughout the book, you can notice how the author stresses on racism. Specifcally, in the novel, the author points out that racism is irrational, and it is masterfully acheicved by depicting the internal transformation of the main character and her path from individual bais to becoming a more conscious person. Evidently, you can see a lot of hate and disrimnation towards the black community. There were some parts where white men would abuse black people and use their superiority against them. Other parts where they questioned whether they’re on the same level or whether black and white people can be together.

For example, when Rosaleen was attempting to get her voter card when the people of the black community where finally allowed to vote, white men started to harras her and call her slurs. In the end they started to beat her up, and when the cops showed up, they arrested Rosaleen instead of the people who assaulted her. The book took place during the late 1960s and early 1970s, which can explain the white men's motives (black people and their newly given rights).

The Secret Life of Bees also demostrates some gender equality ideas. They undermine them and gaslight women. For example, When T-Ray refers to Lily as “Julius Shakespeare'' because she was reading a book, he only proves that the town of Sylvan is just about as uneducated as you can get.

All in all, The Secret Life of Bees is an excellent book that highlights social issues that trouble humans and humanity. The author constanlty draws attention towards problems like racial discrimation and gender inequality.

Tune in for the next blog :)

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Refrences:

“Racism in The Secret Life of Bees - College Essay Examples.” Racism in The Secret Life of Bees - College Essay Examples, mycustomessay.com, https://mycustomessay.com/samples/racism-in-the-secret-life-of-bees.html. Accessed 5 June 2022.

“Sexism - The Secret Life of Bees.” The Secret Life of Bees, thepurposeofthebees.weebly.com, http://thepurposeofthebees.weebly.com/sexism.html. Accessed 5 June 2022.