The Secret Life of Bees Lesson Plan

What is significance in how May dies? How does it connect to water as a larger symbol in The Secret Life of Bees more broadly?

May commits suicide in Chapter 10 and students should pay special attention to the details of her death in pages 191 through 194. May drowns herself in the river nearby her wailing wall, after telling everyone at the house that she was going to her wall to think for a bit after she learned of Zach's arrest.

In most cases in the The Secret Life of Bees, water serves a symbolic role in helping the characters transition from one point in their lives to the next and washing away old wounds. For example, when Rosaleen and Lily bathe in the river...