How far would you go to find the truth about your mother's death. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd the main theme is the development of the main character, Lily. Lily is a girl who lived a very difficult childhood; she killed her mother and her father abuses her. She grew up without a female role model. She leaves the house with Rosaleen (her stunt double) to find answers about her mother. She arrives at the Boatwright sisters' home, where they help her find not only answers, but some peace and forgiveness. When Lily gets the answers to all her questions, she doesn't like them all, but she knows it's better to know the truth than live a lie. At the beginning of the novel Lily is really insecure and has very low self-esteem, but when she starts finding female role models and friends she becomes more confident and changes forever. August helps her to be open-minded and have more self-confidence. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily receives help from many different people, such as the Boatwright sisters. He goes from having no female role models to having many. Even though August knows who Lily really is, he decides not to confront her about it, but to lead her to open up. “Giglio, if you want to touch the heart of the Madonna you are welcome (119).” August tries to lead her on the right path. When August realizes who Lily really is, he knows it's not a good idea to confront her. He instead decides to help her become confident and happy, because he knows that at some point in Lily's emotional growth she will open up and tell August who she really is and what she is looking for. She helps her by telling her different stories related to her and her situation. Zach is another person…center of the paper…a description of Lily throughout the novel, and still captures what she has done. not completely changed. Lily improved her emotional side by stopping being racist. Now she has more than one mother and they all worry and care about her. Lily is forever changed throughout the novel, she can't really forgive herself or her mother because it's a really difficult situation, but now she has many other mothers she can rely on, just like August. Now she's a confident teenager who has somehow managed to put her past behind her, but she still carries some guilt for what she did. Many people can connect with this book because many teenagers do not have female role models, but it is important to know that they will find someone sooner or later. Someone will help them and lead them on the right path. Everyone finds a way out of their problems, no matter how difficult it is to get to a better place.