In response to Aaliyah's post...

I’ve found this book quite interesting so far. The symbols of the peaches and honey, two seemingly delightful things, actually represent something so terrible like death and abusiveness. I think that right off the bat shows that this story is going to. Be filled with conflict and solutions.

Even though Lily is very young still, I think it is wrong of her father, T Ray to be hiding and lying about her mothers death. She even thinks back and tells us about the horrible day where her parents were yelling at each other while she hid in the closet. I agree, I don’t think T Ray is a very trustworthy person or source for important facts, let alone the death of her own mother! He definitely does not show good characteristics of a loving parent. For example Lily never gets to go to school events, or hang out with friends, and she only wears the clothes she sewn herself. I feel bad for Lily because she talks a lot about how it’s hard for her to make friends, and I think that has something to do with not having a mother in her life—but it is good she has Rosaleen as a motherly figure, if you will.

I am actually kind of a fan of Rosaleen, not all of her, but some of her. Yes, she stole fans from the church and did pour her spit jar all over those men’s feet, but they were mocking her, “Did you ever see one that black?” (32) along with “No, and I aint seen one that big either.”(32) So basically making racist remarks and calling her fat, which is not okay for someone to do. I think what she did was good in terms of standing up for herself, but unfortunately during this time, blacks dealt with much greater consequences than whites. 

Do we know if the bees are real or is it just Lily’s imagination talking? I think this is either some kind of symbol, or foreshadowing possibly. Maybe Lily needs to escape her own jar. Do you think Lily will make it to Tiburon and find a brand new life?