Depression is another one of those “first-world” problems us humans face as a society. Although it seems like a deathly globe-renowned issue is in mainly todays -mostly in teens- current society, Sue Monk Kidd demonstrates how depression may have affected those over fifty years ago- especially the South-American colored people of the Civil Rights Era in 1964. In The Secret Life of Bees, May, an oddly complex character, changes in the novel because of her depression. May is often portrayed as a very gentle, compassionate and selfless character, who immensely feels the suffering and pain of others on an emotional level because of the death of her twin sister. She changes into a character who is selfish and neglectful as she isolates herself,
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She is often the person to prepare meals, clean, and do some of the house chores, which you can see is recognizable out of her love and compassion as part of her nature. As an example, the text says, “‘I saw a roach,’ [May] said, … ‘I [Lily] let myself look at the little highway of broken graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow bits that May was constructing across the floor.’ … ‘The roaches will follow this out the door,’ May said. ‘It works every time.’” (Kidd 172). May will not kill or “get rid of” a common roach disliked by most people- for the sake for her compassion and kindheartedness. Along with this odd habit, May is also a character with a unique and slightly strange personality. In the novel when May went with August to pick out a color for their house- which is something people usually put a lot of thought into, as it displays the type of people in the home, as well as their reputation- and she decides on a “Caribbean pink”. The text says, “‘ … but May latched onto this sample called Caribbean Pink, she said it made her feel like dancing a Spanish Flamenco.’” (Kidd 146). This decision displays Mays odd and exclusive personality- even one of the common people in their town contributes to this claim when he describes it as “‘the darndest house you ever saw.’” (Kidd 64). In addition to these observations of May, it also proves that she has a childish personality. She makes a highway of marshmallows for roaches, selects the colour of the house to be pink, and in chapter nine, she and Rosaleen play with the water sprinkler squealing and laughing as if they were as -Lily describes it- at school recess. (Kidd 168). The text says, “And there were May and Rosaleen running through the water sprinkler, barefoot and fully clothed. They had gone berserk.” (Kidd 168). This inner child in May also contributes to who May is as a character, along with her loving
She is often the person to prepare meals, clean, and do some of the house chores, which you can see is recognizable out of her love and compassion as part of her nature. As an example, the text says, “‘I saw a roach,’ [May] said, … ‘I [Lily] let myself look at the little highway of broken graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow bits that May was constructing across the floor.’ … ‘The roaches will follow this out the door,’ May said. ‘It works every time.’” (Kidd 172). May will not kill or “get rid of” a common roach disliked by most people- for the sake for her compassion and kindheartedness. Along with this odd habit, May is also a character with a unique and slightly strange personality. In the novel when May went with August to pick out a color for their house- which is something people usually put a lot of thought into, as it displays the type of people in the home, as well as their reputation- and she decides on a “Caribbean pink”. The text says, “‘ … but May latched onto this sample called Caribbean Pink, she said it made her feel like dancing a Spanish Flamenco.’” (Kidd 146). This decision displays Mays odd and exclusive personality- even one of the common people in their town contributes to this claim when he describes it as “‘the darndest house you ever saw.’” (Kidd 64). In addition to these observations of May, it also proves that she has a childish personality. She makes a highway of marshmallows for roaches, selects the colour of the house to be pink, and in chapter nine, she and Rosaleen play with the water sprinkler squealing and laughing as if they were as -Lily describes it- at school recess. (Kidd 168). The text says, “And there were May and Rosaleen running through the water sprinkler, barefoot and fully clothed. They had gone berserk.” (Kidd 168). This inner child in May also contributes to who May is as a character, along with her loving