Analysis of Lily in The Secret Life of Bees - Research Paper Example

?Analysis of Lily in “The Secret Life of Bees” Identifying Information Lily is a 14 year old girl who has been referred to family counseling by her adopted family. Family services provide low-cost mental health services to the community. Lily currently lives with her adopted family which includes three sisters: May, June and August Boatwright. The Boatwright’s own a successful honeybee farm and make “the best honey in the state”. Another woman, Rosaleen also lives in the home. Rosaleen was Lily’s housekeeper and caregiver in her home prior to their arrival at the Boatwright’s home. Lily has been wracked with guilt because at the age of four, she accidentally killed her mother when her mother and father were fighting. Her mother was going to shoot her father to stop him from hurting her, but she dropped the gun. Lily picked up the gun, and in an attempt to help her mother, fired the gun; unfortunately, her mother was killed instead of her father. Lily stayed with her father who was abusive to her. As an example, when she would do something against his rules, he would make her kneel on grits for up to an hour for her punishment. On her 14th birthday, Lily asked her father to tell her more about her mother, and he states that her mother left them and wanted nothing to do with her. Lily did not want to accept this information and after her father is particularly abusive, she runs away, taking Rosaleen with her. Lily has spent several months with the Boatwrights and she has seen many things happen. Lily lives in South Carolina in 1964, which was a tumultuous time for black people. Because the three sisters are black, and because Lily does not agree with the way that the southern people treat blacks, she has seen two other traumas in her life. The first was when Rosaleen poured tobacco juice on a white man’s foot and then would not apologize. They beat Rosaleen and arrested her, putting her in jail. During the time she was in jail, she was also beaten and sent to the hospital. It was at that point that Lily finds Rosaleen and they leave. The second traumatic event was when Lily went to the movies and sat in the black section with her friend Zack. Because Zack is black, he was taken out of the balcony for sitting with a white girl, beaten and then he disappeared; eventually he was brought back to the Boatright’s with some of his spirit broken. Another trauma in her life happened when May Boatwright learned about Zach’s disappearance; she committed suicide. Lily has taken all of these incidents as proof that she is a bad person and that she “brings the bad things in.” The Boatright’s and Rosaleen are concerned about this and have brought Lily to counseling to help her move forward with her life. Lily is a very loving child and she is looking for someone to love her. She does not feel that her father T Ray loves her because of his mistreatment of her. Presenting Problems When Lily came to the Boatwright’s she was hiding the information about her mother because she knew that these women may have known her mother. Lily asked for a place to stay and to work so that she and Rosaleen could go to an Aunt’s house; she also said that they she was an orphan. Lily reports that she often has flashbacks (she calls them dreams) about her mother’s death. She says that she can have these dreams during the day or at night and that they happen when she is feeling stressed or when something happens to trigger these dreams. As an example, when she was asked if she wanted some grits, she quickly says no because she only knows them as a punishment. Although Lily is consumed by guilt for killing her mother, she is also feeling abandoned by her mother at the same time, because of what her father, T Ray has told her. She does not feel that she is loved by anyone, and she goes to the Boatwright’s to see if they know whether her mother loved her. Lily firmly believes that she took her mother away from her when she killed her. In her words, "I killed my mother when I was four years old, that’s when I knew about myself. She was all I wanted and I took her away. Nothing else much matters" (Pinkett-Smith and Bythewood, 2008). Lily also does not understand why people are mistreated because of the color of their skin. She does not talk about this but she has observed two situations in which she felt helpless to help her friends. Lily has not taken the time to grieve her mother because she feels so guilty about her death. T. Ray has not grieved and he has not encouraged Lily to grieve. Both of them live in the house with no bond between them and they both think about Deborah but are afraid to talk to each other about the death. Another problem that Lily is presenting is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2000) there area several criteria that show that a person has PTSD. The person has to be exposed to a traumatic event that they witnessed and their response to the event included intense fear, helplessness, or horror. For a little girl of four years old, it would seem that fear and horror were a part of the situation although she may not have been able to express it at that time. Also, she has flashbacks and she has recurrent dreams. She also has intense psychological distress brought on by specific triggers. As an example, the idea of having grits for her breakfast made her think about having to kneel on them for punishment. All of these issues are PTSD criteria and this seems to be a serious issue that she is presenting at this time. Developmental History Deborah and T. Ray Owens were newlyweds and very happy at first until T. Ray begins to drink heavily. Lily was born within the first year of their marriage and Deborah tried to take care of her daughter though she was being beaten by her alcoholic husband. According to her medical history, Lily had good prenatal care and she received regular checkups and immunizations. She was a healthy child and there are no indications that T. Ray abused her as she was growing up. Deborah and T. Ray were unhappy and at some point when Lily was three or four years old, Deborah left T. Ray for a period of time. It is known that she went to stay with the Boatwrights because August Boatwright had been her nanny as a child and they had kept in touch. Lily states that as far as she knows, she was a good baby and she does not remember getting punished as a small child. According to the Boatwright’s who had second hand knowledge of Lily from her mother, Lily did all of the things she was supposed to do on time: sat up, crawled, walked and so forth. Lily was not able to be breast fed though Deborah wanted to, because Deborah did not have enough milk. Lily was pretty much a good child and very loving from the first moment that she came into the world. Lily did not begin to have many challenges until after the age of four. Her father described her as “crying all the time, defiant, and needing punishment”. Her father continued to drink throughout his life and often over reacted to Lily’s behavior (according to Rosaleen). From the age of four, it was Rosaleen who took care of Lily. She could not go against T. Ray’s orders but she attempted to keep Lily out of harm’s way. Because Rosaleen was a black woman, there was only so much she could do to protect Lily, but she did her best to run interference between Lily and T. Ray. Rosaleen made sure that Lily was off to school, had good food to eat, and had her needs for food and shelter met at home. T. Ray does not seem to have any family in town or close and it seems that he is isolated in terms of the community. People know him, but he does not have friends hanging around the house and he does not go out to bars or other community functions. This could be the major reason why Lily has no friends. Family Background Lily is a 14 year old girl, the only child who was born to Deborah and T. Ray Owens in the state of South Carolina. She was raised by her mother in the first four years and then by Rosaleen, the housekeeper and caretaker, for the next 10 years. The family did not have social support from other family members and it appears that Deborah may have come from a somewhat wealthy family and married beneath her. The family had no real religion, although Rosaleen would take Lily to church with her on some Sundays. Lily was close to her mother as a child, but now carries guilt about her mother’s death. It is not known why T. Ray drinks or why he was always angry and taking this out on Deborah. According to Rosaleen, T. Ray always seemed to want to be in control of other people and was upset when he could not be in control. When his wife died, he automatically took care of Lily instead of sending her to other family members because he felt she was his responsibility. He worked a steady job as an auto mechanic to keep things going for his daughter. T. Ray had many anger issues that were never addressed. Deborah left because he had angry outbursts and then would beat her and there was no real reason why he would do this. She left Lily with him at the age of four because she did not know what else to do. She wanted to get away from him and take some time to heal. Once she did, she went back for Lily, but T. Ray was angry because she did not come back for him; he decided at that point that he would stop her from leaving him. After Deborah’s death, T. Ray felt that he had to bring Lily up to be a respectable girl so he punished her by making her kneel on grits when she disobeyed. It is this counselor’s opinion that this may have been a punishment that T. Ray was given when he was a child. When Lily ran away, T. Ray spent several months looking for her until he found the map in her room and figured out that she went to the town where the Boatwright’s lived. He found her and went to take her back home. Lily did not want to go and the Boatwright’s stood strong to tell him that they would take care of her, so he left her with the Boatwrights. When he left, he said, “Good riddance” but admits to Lily that he lied about her mother. Also, Lily interprets that T. Ray was really saying to her, “Lily, you'll be better off here with all of these mothers." No more is known about his whereabouts or whether he was back in touch with Lily at some time in her life. One area that may be important within the next year or so for Lily is a talk about sex. She is very attracted to Zach and although they are just friends, Lily is confident that this relationship may go. If so, there are also challenges because Zach is black and she is white and these need to be explained to her. Community/Social/Academic History There does not seem to be any real academic history for Lily but it is known that she has learned to read and write well. She may have learned this in school or her parents may have taught her. They do not appear to be active in the community or to have any social interaction with others in their town. Lily seemed that her experiences with the Boatwright’s were the only interaction she had with groups of people. She seems very personable which means she was socialized with other people in some way, but there is no information about this from anyone. Other than her Sundays when she would go with Rosaleen to church, it does not seem that she had any other interaction with people. This could have been because of the tumultuous relationship between Deborah and T. Ray and the fact that the school may have been more involved had they known about it. Lily does not have friends in her town and she is never shown to go to school or be in school. There are no books in her bedroom or in any other parts of the house. She never has friends come over to her house. The only real friend she has is Rosaleen and she was Lily’s housekeeper and care taker. Lily has not been able to form strong attachments in this area and it may be because she is attempting to keep her secret. Theoretical Analysis There are several theories that are important in discussing treatment for Lily. The first theory is attachment theory. According to Bretherton (1992) the original aspects of the attachment theory began with Bowlby. Bowlby stated that when a child had a secure attachment to their primary caregiver, they would grow up to be confident adults. In contrast, if they grew up with an insecure attachment, they would become insecure and troubled adults. Ainsworth later worked with attachment theory and suggested that children had to have a secure attachment to their caregiver before they could venture out into unfamiliar situations. Both Bowlby and Ainsworth said that this attachment had to happen early in life (Bretherton, 1992). Lily seems to have had a strong bond with her mother and then was able to transfer some of this attachment to Rosaleen as she was growing up. Nothing is known about Lily’s life between in the years between age four and 14. However, because of her ability to strike out on her own, it is clear that she had a secure attachment to Rosaleen. In fact, when she decides to run away, she takes Rosaleen with her. At the most basic level, Lily started life with a strong bond with her mother until she was four years old. Bowlby (1979) states that when a bond is broken between parent and child in early childhood, the child can grow up to have challenges with their personality. Lily has been troubled most of her and the fact that she has killed her mother, although accidentally, has made her more anxious than a child without this trauma may have. Lily also has not attached at all to her father perhaps because of his abuse, alcoholism and the fact that he punishes her severely but does not explain why she is being punished. She does not think her father loves her because of these actions. Bowlby (1988) states that when a bond is broken abruptly between a parent and child the child will often become anxious and depressed. We can see this in Lily before she comes into the Boatwright’s home. She stays as quiet as she can and she stays out of her father’s way as what he will do is so unpredictable that it seems easier to stay out of his way. Somewhere in Lily’s early life she was able to wander away from the attachment which is unusual in children who suffer this type of trauma. Lily was fortunate to have spent most of her formative years with her mother and then Rosaleen. Her father did not seem to be very connected to her but wanted to have her as his possession rather than as a daughter. Once she arrives at the Boatwright’s she is afraid to tell who she really is for fear that they will call the police or search for her father. She shows anxiety in her telling of the story that she and Rosaleen need to have a place to stay and a place to work so they can get to an aunt in another city. Lily felt she had to be comfortable with these women before she told her story. There are several strengths of attachment theory and a primary strength is that it provides information on the importance of attachment between children and their primary caregivers. In the research that was done in this area, it is clear that those children who form strong attachments to their primary caregiver grow up to be stronger adults. They are more secure and able to move away from the parent eventually, knowing that they can always come back to the caregiver. Attachment theory has a long history of developmental theories as its foundation. Levinger (1994) states that there is an “ontogenetic” explanation for how relationships are created. Bowlby said that an individual moves from proximity seeking where they are looking at short ways away from the caregiver once they are feeling secure, to a safe haven, where the caregiver becomes safe and the individual knows they can always come back to the caregiver. The final stage of secure base means that the individual has developed securely and is able to move foreword in their life feeling confident and has built a high level of self-esteem. The theory also suggests ways that people are able to behave in a relationship and the reasons why they act as they do (Fraley and Shaver, 2000). The attachment theory is controversial for a number of reasons, and these reasons are what have been seen as the limitations (weaknesses) of this theory. Many people criticize the theory because it assumes that all relationships have their basis in whether they had positive or negative attachments (Fraley and Shaver, 2000). Another challenge with the theory in the early days was that it was only studied with small children. The theory does not take into consideration that cultures are different. As an example, there are some cultures where attachment to parents is not a positive thing for children to do. The attachment theory was studied with a majority of Caucasian children. Other critics suggest that the attachment theory does not go far enough in discussing how it would work across the lifespan (Pietrornonaco and Barrett 2000). Another theory that is relevant in this discussion is the ecological theory which is very relevant to Lily and her experiences. The ecological theory suggests that an individual is "constantly creating, restructuring, and adapting to the environment as the environment is affecting them" (Ungar, 2002 as cited in “Ecological Perspective,” n.d.). Lily was constantly creating her world by doing something different. She took the abuse from her father until she was 14 and then made the decision to run away. When she went to the Boatwright’s she understood that the best way to work with these very strong women was to offer to work for a place to stay. Of course, August knew right away why Lily had come to them but she let her take her time to tell them. In her father’s environment, she had to always be on guard because she did not know when he would become angry and punish her. She adapted to the Boatwright’s home with the three women very easily because these women created an environment that where Lily felt loved and nurtured. These women are already a very strong matriarchal family and taking Lily and Rosaleen in was a natural aspect of who they were and how loving they were to others. In some respects, Lily is in the Microsystem moving into the Mesosystem in this theory. In some respects her growth was stunted in her father’s house and now that she is living with the Boatwright’s, she will have an opportunity to move into the other environments. The ecological theory has several strengths. It is a theory that allows us to understand how people fit into the world and it asks people to see themselves as interconnected to the entire world. Hepworth, Rooney and Rooney (2010) suggest that there is a body of evidence that states that when an individual has a good social network that includes family, friends, pets, neighbors, work and more that these things can help the individual deal with stress and they can maintain well-being. This theory also studies the idea of niche, and in this context it means that people are looking for a niche that will allow them to fit into the society. This theory helps the individual explore those things that may become their niche (Hepworth, Rooney and Rooney 2010). The ecological theory also has several limitations. This researcher saw two limitations when researching this study. It only talks about the environment in which an individual lives or experiences throughout their life. It does not really show how the individual relates to this environment. Also it does not explain the cognitive or biological processes that an individual goes through as they age and move through their environments. Instead, it only talks about how an individual adapts to the various environments that an individual finds themselves within. Rotabi (2007) states that some critics state that the ideas of homeostasis and system stability may bring about conversation about social systems staying the same rather than moving forward. The last theory to mention in this section is Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief. Lily has put her grief on hold until she could find out more information about whether her mother loved her. Once she finds out that her mother loved her and that her mother was coming back to get her before she was killed, she is able to begin her grieving process. In Kubler-Ross’ five stages, Lily moved from the first stage of denial to that of anger. Although Lily accepted the fact that her mother was dead, she had to find out more information before she could put the incident to rest. In a sense, she was in denial because she did not understand how to In the film, Lily runs into her room in the honey room and throws several jars of honey at the door as she is crying. This was the first and only aspect of anger that she showed and it was because of her grief. By the time that she sees T. Ray, she has resolved her grief to a point and she is in the stage of acceptance. She shows this by recognizing that T. Ray was also hurt by her mother’s death. Also, she has resolve because she states that T. Ray leaves here there because she will be better off with all those mothers. Everyone knows at this point that everything will be alright for her as long as she lives with the Boatwright’s and she is not forced to go back and live with T. Ray. Some of the strengths of Kubler-Ross’ theory are that they give an organized way of looking at the way that people perceive grief. For the social worker, it gives them an idea of how to begin with a client who presents a situation similar to Lily’s. The theory also lets people know that they can go through any of the stages at any time and that they may not experience them in a specific order. The limitations of this theory include the fact that it does not have a multi-cultural understanding. The theory expects that all people go through the same five stages and does not take into consideration that different cultures grieve differently. It does not give a length of time that each stage will last which can be difficult when dealing with clients because they want answers when someone dies. In conclusion, Lily is a 14 year old girl who has had many challenges since the age of four. She accidentally killed her mother, which was a traumatic event that she has needed closure on for many years. She finally received the closure she needed at age 14 and she was able to begin to grieve her mother’s death. Several theories are important to this case including attachment theory, ecological theory, and the five stages of grief theory. Lily is a very bright girl and will grow up to be very strong women after living with the Boatwrights. She will have the opportunity to go to school, build close relationships with other people and become the writer that she wants to become. One of the ways that she had closure was to put her first book in May’s wailing wall. Lily may also become a professional writer, as this is one of the things she loves to do. References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition. Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). DC: American Psychiatric Association. Bowlby, J. (1979). The making & breaking of affectional bonds. NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.com Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: clinical applications of attachment theory. NY: Bruner- Routledge. Bretherton, I. (1992). The origins of attachment theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Developmental Psychology, 28. 759-775. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_origins.pdf Chapman, A. (2010). Elizabeth Kubler Ross: Five stages of grief. Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/elisabeth_kubler_ross_five_stages_of_grief.htm “Ecological Perspective and Social Work Practice”. (n.d). Retrieved from http://ecologicaltheory.tripod.com/ecotheory/index.html Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (2000). Adult romantic attachment: Theoretical developments, emerging controversies, and unanswered questions. Review of General Psychology, 4, 132-154. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/ danfords2002/documents/fraley1.pdf Hepworth, D.H., Rooney, R.H. and Rooney, G.D. (2010). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills CA: Brooks/Cole. Retrieved from http://books.google.com Levinger, G. (1994). Attachment theory as a paradigm for studying close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5 (1). 45-47. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1449082 Pinkett-Smith, J. (Executive Producer) and Prince-Bythewood, G. (2008). The Secret Life of Bees. [Motion picture]. United States: Fox Searchlight Pictures. Pietrornonaco, P.R. and Barret, L.F. (2000). Attachment Theory as an organizing framework: A view from different levels of analysis. Review of General Psychology, 4 (2), 107-110. doi: 10.1037#1089-2680.4.2.107 Rotabi, K. S. (2007). Ecological theory origin from natural to social science or vice versa? A brief conceptual history for social work. Advances in Social Work, 8, (1). 113-129. Retrieved from http:// journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/ article/download/.../136 Zastrow, C. (2010). Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering. CA: Cenage. Retrieved from http://books.google.com Read More