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Throughout The Secret Life of Bees, the reader is able to notice a significant amount of character development in all of the characters. Because of being set in the times of racism and the Jim Crow Laws, it made all the characters have to adjust in some way. Although May, June, and Rosaleen change a great deal, but overall the most noticeable change is from Lily. Because of Lily's abuse and neglect from her father, her time with the sisters, and her relationship with Zach, she develops into a strong and mature teen who can stand up for herself.
T. Rays' abuse and neglect was one of the main factors that contributed to her becoming strong and mature. The abuse was so constant that, "I'd stopped thinking of it as out of the ordinary; it was just something you had to put up with" (Kidd 25).
Although T. Ray's styles of punishment were so constant and terrible they gave Lily the self-realization she needed to become stronger. This self-knowing she had never had because when her mother died her only connection to her parents was lost. After she left and found "herself" she realized how bad it was, and was able to stand up to him and decline help, "Turning, I saw August and Rosaleen at the door, I gave them a quiet signal, waving them away. I just needed to do this by myself" (Kidd 296). Because of her self- realization and from his punishment she was able to face him by herself. T. Ray's anger came from the sadness he had from Lily's mom leaving but those feelings he had left him when he left her with the Boatwright's. Lily reminded him of her and which allowed her to break...