...Each colony is a family unit, comprising a single, egg-laying female or queen and her many sterile daughters called workers. The workers cooperate in the food-gathering, nest-building and rearing the offspring. Males are reared only at the times of year when their presence is required" (Kidd 67).
*Reared and rearing means to nurture, take care of, and look after.*
Before each chapter, Sue Monk Kidd adds quotes taken from separate books. The quotes she uses are all about the lives of bees and they fit into The Secret Life of Bees well. The quote that I chose simply says that females can live by themselves and men are only needed in their lives when it is time to reproduce. That being said, the quote is appropriate in this story because it is all about the power of women.
This quote was added into the book before chapter four, and this is where I began to see the power and independence of women. After Lily and Rosaleen ran away, they stopped at a house where three colored women lived. The three ladies were sisters and not one of them had married once; they did not have the need to. Day by day these women worked and lived and overcame the struggles that each day could bring. They could do work as well as any man could and they did it for each other.
Outside of this book, the quote says a lot about the world. Women are often looked down upon simply because it is not believed that woman can live up to the expectations of men. However, a woman can do just as much as a man can. It is not necessary for women to have men in their lives.
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7 comments:
This quote is very interesting. It sounds like the females do more in their colonies than males. Good quote! Would you recommend this book?
I definitely recommend this book. I'm not all the way through it, but so far there hasn't been one boring part in the book. There's always something new happening!
I don't know if this is what you meant at all, but what I hate is when a woman gets pregnant and the man leaves her with nothing. That's what this reminded me of, the male bees are only needed when it's time to reproduce, then what? Do they leave? In my opinion, in some ways women are stronger than men and I guess this goes for bees, too.
Leena, that is a little bit like what my quote means. The guy just hangs around and uses the woman for her body. However, when something goes wrong and she becomes pregnant, he just leaves so he doesn't need to do any work, leaving the woman with the baby. It bothers me, too. But this isn't quite like that. In this case, the male bees just hide away in the hive until they need to make babies. They come out to do this and once that happens, the adult and baby boy bees leave and let the girl bees to the work!
I completely agree with you Andrea when you say that there is something always happening in this book. There's never a boring part to me! Also, you were dead on about the independence of May, August, and June. They are very independent women that don't need men in their lives because they always have each other to rely on.
Andrea I love this! It is very true. Women are very independent and do not need men. I mean it is nice to have one around but they are not what our world as women is based on. This story is very inspiring to me because of how strong and independent the women are.
I cited this wrong. The quote did not come from Sue Monk Kidd. It came from a story called Bees of the World, but it is used in this book!
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