english blog week four

This week in English, we met up with our book club group and discussed our outside reading books, which the class will have an in-class essay on at the end of the month. My group is reading the novel The Secret Life of Bees, which, like Lord of the Flies, I have already read, but it's always nice to re-read a book and process it in a different way. The Secret Life of Bees is probably one of my favorite novels, not only because of its mysterious story-line and vivid descriptions of small town life in the South, but also because of the emotional themes and symbols presented throughout the novel. 

One of the major symbols of the novel, and my favorite one, is that of beehives. The main significance of this symbol is the way it relates to the Boatwright house, and the way the house functions with the sisters: August, June, and May, as well as Rosaleen and Lily. In a beehive, female bees dominate the bee community similar to the novel, in which females, namely August, dominate the family. August Boatwright can be depicted as the "Queen Bee", with her copious amount of selfless help for her family. 

At the beginning of each chapter, Monk Kidd writes an epigraph, taken from various books written on bees, and applies it to the theme of each chapter. At epigraph for Chapter 8 is "Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die", from The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men. This quote relates so perfectly to the relationship between the Boatwright sisters, as well as the   relationships between Rosaleen, Lily, and the sisters. 

While Lily was growing up, she viewed Rosaleen as a mother-figure, obviously needing her companionship and womanly advice whenever she felt ostracized. When Rosaleen and Lily leave T-Ray's and come to Tiburon, they seek refuge at the Boatwright house, specifically with the gregarious character of August. May Boatwright requires the help of both candid June and lovable August, and as time goes on, every single one of the women needs one another, comparable to the epigraph in Chapter 8, saying a bee will die when isolated from her sisters. The women in the novel work together much like the bee community.

This video illustrates the bonds between the females in the novel, and the happiness each brings to one another.

My favorite theme in The Secret Life of Bees is the emphasis on female roles, a theme not usually seen through famous novels. This novel gives females a sense of pride, showing that a male figure is not necessary in order to operate a community or household. The Boatwright's bee business is a prime example of the women's independence, and it is this independence that draws Lily and Rosaleen to August and her sisters, and that keeps the women living their lives each day, with each other at their sides, never considering to jettison one another. 

english blog week three

This past week in english we've discussed characterization in Lord of the Flies with the main characters of Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon. The boys' characters are deepened through an assembly that Ralph calls to order, and the problem of the "beast" on the island is discussed. The angry and agitated nature of Jack is developed further when he tells the littluns that there is absolutely no beast on the island, and he approaches the situation by castigating the boys with jeers and rude comments, making them feel stupid for ever believing in a so-called beast. Jack's rough explanation of the beast is due to his avarice to prove he's not afraid and that he's fearless, which are characteristics of a leader-- the one thing Jack wants to be most. Ralph, however takes a different approach by empathizing with the littluns and telling them he too feels afraid, and he reassures them that they're isn't a beast on the island, and that they're just letting their nightmares get the best of them. Ralph and Jack's differing explanations illustrate the prominent contrasts between the two characters, on top of their disagreements with the importance of being rescued and hunting, therefore adding to the resentment Jack feels toward Ralph and his role of leader.

Simon's character also grows deeper throughout these chapters, giving readers a glimpse at his compassionate nature. Simon finds a spot in the middle of the jungle where he goes when seeking peace and relief from the stressful situations among the boys. Simon's ability to recognize the need for "peace and quiet" and "alone time" demonstrates his maturity and calm nature. When the boys are in the assembly discussing the beast, Simon takes a different approach than Ralph and Jack, saying that there possibly could be a beast on the island. When Simon reveals this thought to the rest of the boys, he is met with harsh banter and is left feeling defenseless against the boys, none of which he seems to identify with. 

Piggy's character also develops as the novel progresses, and a new characteristic of Piggy is identified. Before Ralph calls the boys to assembly and he is assessing the situations on the islands, he comes to the conclusion that Piggy is indeed valuable; even though he lacks the qualities of a leader, he possesses one attribute most of the boys on the island don't: a brain. Piggy's intelligence is noted when he gives his input on the matter of the "island beast", plainly stating that there is simply no beast, for what would it eat? If they've traveled the whole island, wouldn't they have spotted a beast? And if there were something dangerous on the island, wouldn't someone be there for fix it and make everything alright? Piggy's logic and reasoning of the situation is a clear example of his intellect. 

The boys' fear of the beast on the island is a classic example of people's "fear of the unknown". Because the littluns-- and biguns as well-- are alone on an island without any adults, there's bound to be a certain amount of fear and perhaps the boys dreamt of the idea of a beast in order to place their fear on a specific idea that seems plausible to them, instead of constantly feeling scared without any rhyme or reason. Situations like this are evident in today's world, an example being the ever popular talk of 2012-- "Doomsday", or the end of the world. 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/21/doomsday/index.html

I myself don't believe in the end of the world coming any time soon, but I know many people do and it may be because we all know death will come, but we don't know when or if the world will ever end and this "Doomsday" may be a way of reassuring people that there's a set date of the end of the world, similar to the boys' reasoning of a furtive beast and where it lives and when they hear it at night.