- In Chapter 13, Lily confronts many feelings about her mother.
- How does Lily’s story connect to something we’ve read or seen this year?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wk. 4 Option #5: Coping with the Truth
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No Miss Drosdick it was Colonel Jessep. But I'll bet he sounded just like Mr. T. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's from a movie called A Few Good Men.
ReplyDeleteLily finds out that her mother really left her. She was in shock and fury at the thoughts. Her feelings were uncontrollably mad and wanted to smash everything in her path. Lily also feels very sad from the disappointment, after all, T-Ray had told the truth. Her mother had left her when she thought she was a caring woman and would NEVER leave her. Lily relates to Francis from Heroes. In Heroes, Francis said he would never leave Nicole and was loyal to her. But after the "incident" he found out that it was him that had left her that night to Larry. Lily was disappointed but ended up on the flip side of Francis as the one being left by another.
ReplyDeleteAs Colonel Jessep said in the 1992 movie A Few Good Men, a lot of people cannot handle the truth. Actually, he said,”YOU CAN”T HANDLE THE TRUTH!” In Chapter 12, Lily uncovers many feelings about her mother, feelings she has not felt before. August tells Lily everything she knows about Deborah, Lily’s dead mother. Once August told Lily that Deborah was going to leave her, Lily’s feelings changed considerably. “‘I hate her,’ I said. I meant to shout it, but it came out unnaturally calm, low and raspy like the sound of cars crunching over gravel. ‘Now hold on, Lily.’ ‘I do, I hate her. She wasn’t anything like I thought she was.’” Lily deals with some serious feelings. She thought almost her entire life that her mother loved her and that her death was a tragic accident. But it turns out, it was all a lie.
ReplyDeleteThese circumstances and the emotions Lily has for her mother remind me of what Francis felt for Larry LaSalle after Larry raped his girlfriend Nicole Renard. Larry LaSalle made everyone feel special, and he got close enough to get too close. All that time, Francis thought Larry was his hero and his mentor, but he was leading on Francis and basically living a lie.
Week 4 Option 5
ReplyDeleteLily’s story really echoes the story of Francis in the book Heroes. Francis could not handle the truth and pursued death. Although, Lily does not attempt a suicide she does not handle the truth well. She hurled jars of honey at the wall, in the anger of knowing- of knowing the truth. Lily stated, “I wanted to throw something all the way to heaven and knock God clean off his throne.” And instead threw jars of honey at the wall. Both characters did not confront their feelings well, and chose unwise actions.
"You can't handle the TRUTH!" -Attributed to Mr. T
ReplyDelete"You" being Lily Owens, of course. Lily can't handle the truth. It's been tested and proven. Lily Owens lives in a massive, brittle dream world, fitted snuggly inside of a bubble. Her world of compulsive lies is pierced without much trouble when August tells her the secret of Lily's mother: namely, that Deborah Fontanel Owens really WAS leaving the day she died. What does Lily do when she hears this that demonstartes that she can't handle the truth? She picks up a few jars of honey and smashes them on the ground, and cuts herself. That's enough evidence already that would justify Mr. T if he jumped in the Secret Life of Bees and yelled at Lily, "YOU can't handle THE TRUTH!"
Lily's story sounds like a movie I watched a little while ago, Iron Man 2. In it, Robert Downey Jr, who plays a despondent but ingenius engineer, lives in a fabricated world of constant partying and drinking (kinda like Charlie Sheen), and when he is faced with the task of saving the world from a russian megalomaniac who is every bit as ingenius as him, he has to face the truth and stop living his own little world; he has to come out from under his rock.
"You can’t handle THE TRUTH!” That is a quote used by many people of this world. It's been used agaisnt me when I asked somthing that was out of my league. The truth can be a very hard thing to bear whn heard about so it can mean that you can't handle it. In chapter 13 Lily confronts August about somthing that she had on her mind for a very long time. The topic of her mother. She wanted to know all the details, every single problem, answer, EVERYTHING about her mother. August warns her that she might be too early to find out the sheer truth about her mother. The truth that she left Lily and T. Ray at Sylven and came by herself. When Lily finds that out her feelings that she used to hae about her mother all deplted because she wanted to believe so much that she had no choice to leave the house and that she was taken. But when she found out that she wasn't taken but was abandoned, her feelings went from hope to hatred. Her hate to her mom that she left the house without taken her. She was also confused that she didn't take her because she was sure that she would be taken.
ReplyDeleteThis quote can be related to othre books that we have read throught the school year. An example being Heroes. He couldn't handle the truth that his love Nicole was raped by Larry. He was so discomforted about that truth that he went to war to try to get killed. But because fate had let him live, his truth would be with him forever. The truth that Nicole got raped and the truth that he was there and didn't do anything to stop it. The truth that he was too scared to even move. The SHEER truth that he couldn't handle was that it was all his fault she got raped.
i am guesting it connect to the book called HERO,because Francis wanted to find the girl that he liked before. and ask why did she leave him.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 13, Lily learns a lot about her mother. Lily feels depressed, angry and a little lonely. She's depressed that she never saw her mother and she really wants to. She would go into the forest and grieve there for hours, doing nothing. She wouldn't even eat anything. Lily says, "Sometimes I would forget lunch, and Rosaleen would come find me, bearing a tomato sandwich. After she left, I would throw it in the river." Lily was angry for a little while that her mother left. Her anger dissolved later on, though. And lastly, she is lonely because-again-she misses her mother.
ReplyDeleteLily's story connects to Heroes because Francis Cassavant is also depressed, angry and lonely.
Francis is depressed because the love of his life, Nicole, has moved away. She moved away because she was raped by Larry LaSalle so she didn't want to be in Frenchtown anymore. Francis knew about the incident as it was going on but for some unknown reason, he didn't do anything to stop it. Nicole got very upset with Francis and naturally, he felt guilty. So out of his guilt, he tried to jump on a grenade to end his life. It didn't work, however, and now everybody's calling him a hero for saving everybody from that grenade. Francis feels bad about that and he disguises himself. He's very lonely now because of that and because Nicole's not with him. Francis is very angry with Larry for ruining his life. He's out to kill Larry.
Francis and Lily's stories compare because they are both depressed, angry and lonely.
Lily's story connects to the novel we read earlier in the year, "Heroes". This novel is about a young boy named Francis Cassavant, who falls in love with the new girl in his class. They begin to go out and have the time of their lives together. Eventually, after a tragic incident, Francis's beloved breaks off their relationship because she decides she can't trust him any longer. After having his heart broken, all Francis wants to do is die. So, he goes to war, lying about his age to get in because he is underaged. When he gets back from war, having not succeded in killing himself, Francis changes his entire identity. This is the beginning of the search for his new identity, or "truth". Lily was on the search behind the "truth" of her mother. Lily learns about her mother from T-Ray Owens and August Boatwright. Lily gets most of the information about her mother from August though. Though, T-Ray didn't tell Lily alot, he told her the main things that happend with Lily's mother, Deborah.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Lawson
ReplyDeleteMs. Drosdick
Language Arts, Period 7
April 8, 2011
Week 4, Option 5
In chapter 13, Lily learns even more about her mother from Rosaleen. She learns that Rosaleen knew the whole time that her mother did actually leave Lily. Rosaleen did not tell Lily because she did not want to hurt her even more. Lily starts to become angered at the fact that her mother had left her. Even though her mother came back, three months later, to get Lily, it was hard for Lily to forgive her mother for what she did. The anger was very intense for her. For example, on page 262, Lily says to Rosaleen, “She left me. It’s just like he said it was. She left me. For a second the anger I’d felt the night before flared up, and it crossed my mind to slam the shell against the tub, but I took a breath instead.”
Lily’s story connects with the story Heroes that we’ve read this year. Like Lily looking up to her mother, Francis looked up to Larry LaSalle as a hero throughout his life. In their eyes, these people could do no wrong. But then one day, Lily and Francis learned the truth about this person they looked up to. The story is similar in other ways too. Both of these “heroes” ended up disappointing Lily and Francis. These “heroes” ultimately lost their lives. In Lily’s case, her mother left her for three months and by accident Lily killed her mom. In Francis’ case, his hero Larry LaSalle raped his girlfriend and Francis wanted to kill Larry. But, Larry ended up killing himself. Learning the true feelings about the people they looked up to got them very angry in one part of the book. Lily got upset upon learning the truth and wanted to throw everything at the walls to relieve her pain. Francis got extremely depressed and angry and wanted to kill himself and the person he looked up to for all those years.
Lily finds out many secrets about her mother during a very short time in chapter 13. And she doesn't quit know how to prosses it. She's beyond angry that her mother left her and she's sad and hurt because everything that T-Ray told her was the truth and everything she thought her mother was, was a lie. I think running away put the idea in her head that she could handle anything that comes her way. So, before she confronts August I bet she was thinking, "Everything is going to be fine. She is going to tell me exactly what I want to hear and if she doesn't, well... I'm a big girl, i can handle it." When in reality she knew that she wouldn't be able to, even if she wasn't going to admit it. When Lily found out that her mother actually did leave her, she trashed the honey house.
ReplyDeleteI think Francis can relate to Lily's problems the most. He couldn't handle the fact that Larry had hurt Nicole. To cope with the insane news he went off to war and tried to kill himself. And then when he came back he found out that Nicole and her family had moved and no one knew where they were. Francis didn't know that the truth was about to smack him in the face, but even if he did know what was coming, he wouldn't have been able to handle it!
"You can handle the truth!" from Mr. T relates to Lily finding out more about her mother. When Lily discovered that her mother actually ran away, she couldn't handle it. She wanted to hear want she wanted, but she heard about what really happened. "I hate her." is what Lily kept saying after she heard about the truth. She also broke a few things after learning about the truth. If Lily learned more of something she doesn't want to hear, who knows what she'll do.
ReplyDeleteLily's story reminds me of a story we read this year called Heroes. Lily admired her mother just like Francis admired Larry LaSalle. The people being admired both seemed nice and loving, but one action would turn the admirers into haters. Lily's mom ran away from her and that caused Lily to hate her. Larry LaSalle abused Nicole and Francis swore he would get his revenge. Lily and Francis are alike becuase their view of someone would eventually change.
In chapter 11 Lily finally confronts August about her mother. Lily finds out the truth about her mother. Lily couldn't seem to handle it because she was exspecting something good. She obviously couldn't handle the truth becasue through all of those bottles of honey. IN the book Of Mice and Men I am sure Lennie would not be able to handle the truth if he learned that he woul dnot be able to tend the rabbits or buy the farm.
ReplyDeleteSomething that remindes me of lily's problem is Anne Frank. Some thing that she had to cope with was when she was going through puperty. Or even francis cassavant becuase he had to cope with the truth that his love got raped. that's somethingt hat no one wants to cope with or know the truth about it. alot fot he books we read was about people understanding and coping with the truth. Those are some examples of books that we read of characters coping with the truth.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I believe it was Jack Nicholson on the witness stand in the movie "A Few Good Men."
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 13 She talks more about her mother. She starts saying she hates her because she left her with t-ray but she had come back for her and gets shot. Lily had touched things from her mothers possesion like her hairbrush and she felt butterflys. Then she starts saying only if she was a faster packer.
Lily's story ties in to the movie quote when she says" I'd traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn't no which one was heavier." Sometimes knowing the truth can be a harder burdan than having questions.
Lily's story has alot in common with Francis casavant because he new the truth about nicole and it was such a big burdan he could not live with him self so he jumped on the grenade
Lily's feelings at this point in the story are all over the place. To certain information, she feels relieved and interested, but other information completely destroys her and only makes her feelings toward her mother crumble. It's no question she can't handle the truth because clearly her mixed emotions have gotten the best of her; smashing honey jars, trying to hide the box of her mother’s belongings so she cannot see it, and excusing herself from the Boatwright’s presence on many occasions to be by herself.
ReplyDeleteLily’s story seems very similar to that of Francis Cassavants’. Both of these characters were searching for something missing in their life, and when they finally found what they were looking for, all they could feel was disappointment and confusion. As Lily learned more and more about her mother’s past, her mind spun with anger, not quite sure how to face the reality. Francis, after finally re-connecting with Nicole, finds himself upset and full of guilt. Both characters faced an unfortunate reality in the end, but what were these characters expecting? I wish Lily and Francis could’ve prepared for the worst and not have gotten their hopes so high.
Lily's feelings connect to a lot of book characters we read this year. A character that had to face the truth was Francis's love. She had to face the truth because when she saw Francis she had to see him in his worst stage. She had to face the truth that his face was torn off and that he saw her get raped. Another character is Lenny from Mice of Men because he was mental. He has to realize that he was and he can hurt people. So many people had to face the truth in the books we read.
ReplyDeleteAs Mr.T says, “You can’t handle THE TRUTH!”, which is just how Lily is feeling in chapter 13 when she learns perhaps too much about her mother and the idiosyncratic relation between her, the Boatwrights, and her mother. A way of explaining her feeling in chapter 13 is on pages 257 and 258, when she says, “I sat up, feeling like my body weighed two hundred pounds. Like somebody had backed the cement truck up to the honey house, swung the pipe over my chest, and started pouring.” This quote demonstrates how she was overwhelmed with what she had just heard and learned, and couldn’t quite soak it in. She thought that telling August about her mother would take a weight off her chest, but it only made it heavier. Lily’s story of finding out about her mother is similar to one in Heroes. Similar to how Lily’s view of her mother was changed in just one conversation with August, Francis Cassavant’s view of Larry LaSalle changed completely after Francis had a conversation with Larry. Francis changed from desperately wanted to kill Larry earlier, and then to suddenly feeling nothing for him, putting down his gun, and leaving.
ReplyDeleteWhen Lily tells August who she really is and why she came to the Boatwright’s house she finds out that August knew who she was all along. Lily is told that August has know her mother and has kept in contact for most of Deborah’s life. At one point in the conversation Lily says, “My stomach did a slow roll. I knew we’d come to the place in the story I feared the most.” Lily finds out a lot of information that had to do with her mother leaving. Lily now knows that her mother did not take her with her to live with the Boatwright’s. This could have changed Lily’s whole life and she was very upset when she learned that her mother left her.
ReplyDeleteLily’s story connects with the book “Heroes.” This is because Francis when through his adult life not knowing who he really was or where his true love is. Lily also went through her life not know who she truly was and she didn’t know that much about her mother. Francis couldn’t handle the truth that he should of done something the knight Nicole was raped. So, Francis wanted to kill himself because of it. Lily couldn’t handle the truth about her mother but lucky found comfort in Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters.
Lily tried to deal with her emotions when she finds out the truth about her mother. She couldn't believe it and was very uncomfortable being in the same house her mom was in years earlier. She relates to Francis from Heroes, because when he left for the war he left behind so much including Nicole.After the incident with Larry, Francis left Nicole behind with everyone else he knew.
ReplyDeleteLily finds out that her mother really left her. She was in shock and fury at the thoughts. Her feelings were uncontrollably mad and wanted to smash everything in her path. Lily also feels very sad from the disappointment, after all, T-Ray had told the truth. Her mother had left her when she thought she was a caring woman and would NEVER leave her. Lily relates to Francis from Heroes. In Heroes, Francis said he would never leave Nicole and was loyal to her. But after the "incident" he found out that it was him that had left her that night to Larry. Lily was disappointed but ended up on the flip side of Francis as the one being left by another.
ReplyDelete“You can’t handle THE TRUTH!” was in fact a quote from Jack Nicholson in the movie A Few Good Men.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 13, Lily is confronted with her worst fear. She finds out that her mother did in fact leave her. This information crushed Lily, and made her feel even emptier than before. "How dare she? How dare she leave me? I was her child," is what Lily was thinking just before her rage overwhelmed her. She then proceeded to haul jars of honey at the walls.
This moment in the story reminded me of another conflict from Of Mice and Men. At the end of the book George was faced with the inconceivable task of murdering his best and only friend. George was hit with the fact that his hopes of retiring with Lennie to a home in the countryside were impossible. Just like Lily, he had known it all along, but never chose to face it until he was forced to.
Lily in chapter 13 confronts many harsh and upsetting feelings for her mother. Lily says "how dare she? How dare she leave me? I was her child." You can tell she is angry that her loved one has left her. We have seen this in another story we have read this year. In Heroes, Francis left the girl he loved to go into the army. When he came back, she left the town he thought she would still be in. So both people lefttheir loved ones by themselves, just like what Lily's mom did to Lily. That is how Lily's story relates to something else we have read about this year.
ReplyDeleteThe quote, "You can't handle the TRUTH!" involved Lily because when she is thinking of her mother she does not think of her the way that it really happened. She did not expect her mother to leave her, she had thought that she had gone too or that she had a reason to leave her. She did not know what had really went on between T. Ray and Deborah or why they had gotten married in the first place. When she discovered that the truth was she is the reason that they are married, because Deborah had gotten pregnant. She did not realize how unhappy her mother had really been, or that the reason of her unhappiness was her fault. She was not able to handle the fact that it was her fault. After finding out the truth she discovered she no longer believed that her mother had loved her. She was happy that she was gone, she couldn't cope with the truth. It made her mind change and everything she thought she once knew was different all because of what she had found out.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the story Heroes, when Francis found out the truth about who Larry LaSalle was and what he had done to Francis' girlfriend. Francis could not handle the truth which is why he went into the army and almost killed himself on top of the church.
Lily "can't handle THE TRUTH," according to Mr. T. She can't handle that her mother, Deborah, was leaving the day that she died, just T. Ray had said. Lily became angry, and began to throw honey jars at the wall, but it solved nothing. She was still made at what her mother had done, and honey stains were seeping down the wall. The main reason she was upset was the fact that her mother didn't take her with her the day she initailly left. She really couldn't "handle THE TRUTH."
ReplyDeleteLily's actions remind me of Francis from Heroes.He had let Larry "violate" Nicole in the next room over. He couldn't believe that he actually had let her down like that. He too got angry, but in a diffenent way. He decided to enlist in the army to kill himself honorably. Both Lily and Francis shared a shocking revalation in their lives.
This can be related to heroes because lily ran away from t ray because she though that he was lying to her about deborah, and francis ran away from nicole because he felt guilty after larry raped her and he couldn't help her
ReplyDeletewhen i finished reading the book as i was reading the last couple of chapters to this book i saw that lilly finds out that her mother really left her and that she didnt really kill her. lilly was frustrated with that idea because she always thought of her mother to be a really nice person and not one to leave their very on flesh and blood. lilly velt like she wanted to destroy anthing before it destroys it. she wanted the truth and t-ray told the real truth now she cant really handle what the real truth is about her mother, that she is a cold hearted women that was going to leave her.
ReplyDeleteShe feels her mother really left her because she didnt want her and didnt care, but it turns out her mother did leave her but she wanted Lily and came back for her. Her mother loved her and she left to go get Lily but Lily feels her mom just left her because she didnt want her. This relates to Anne Frank because she disliked Peter and had mixed thoughts and feelings about him. She had not liked him at first but then realized she kind of liked him and had a little romance going on.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, we discover more and more thing about Lily and her family that just keep adding to her story. This makes it very easy to relate and connect to, not just with you, but with other things. Maybe even things that you have read in the past or movies you have seen. Ironically enough, Lily’s story connects to something we’ve read this year. In a way her story relates to the book Heroes. Her story relates to it because both, Francis and Lily cannot handle the truth. Francis could not handle the truth about Nicole Renard, how she moved away because of him, and he lived with the guilt of not saying a word when she was being raped. Lily could not handle the truth about her mother and how she left her, her own child. Another thing that can be connected is that they both had actions to their regrets and inability to hold the truth. Lily through many things, including honey jars, at the walls of the honey house. Francis, on the other hand, set out a mission to kill Larry LaSalle, who raped his childhood sweet heart, Nicole Renard. There is a famous quote, maybe it was Mr. T that can connect to both of these scenarios, “You can’t handle THE TRUTH!” This quote is so true, it relates so well to these books. It’s almost as if it was made for them. Now that we are farther in the book, you can really see where that applies.
ReplyDeleteLily really does relate to the saying, “you can’t handle the truth.” She relates to this because after August told her everything about her mother, She ran out into the Honey House. In the Honey House, she took all of the jars of honey, and threw them against walls. She would cut herself with the glass honey jars. Meanwhile, not thinking, honey was all over the black Mary. So if you reverse this situation, if Lily didn’t hear about the truth, she wouldn’t have went into the Honey House and throw honey jars everywhere, and cut herself with them. So this situation clearly shows that she cannot handle the truth.
ReplyDeleteThis relates to the book Heroes. This relates to Heroes, because once Francis heard about what Larry did to Nicole, he was on the search to kill him. I don’t think that a normal person would go on a search for someone and kill them for rape. I think that is what policemen are for. So right there, Francis couldn’t handle the truth about what happened to Nicole, and what Larry did, the night he left her.
In chapter 13 Lily finally confronts August about her past. She tells her everything how she ran away and how T.ray was a horrible father. But what August tells Lily surprises her into a cry. She finds out that Deborah her mother did leave her. August told her how she came here to stay with her because she could no longer stand living with T.ray. And that the day Lily accidentally killed her was the day Deborah was going to get her and come live with august.
ReplyDeleteLily story relates to Heroes. Both have a person who has been mean and deceitful. Both have a person who had gotten hurt and both have a person who needs help but doesn't know where to get it from. The person who acted mean and deceitful in heroes was Larry LaSalle and the person in Secret life of Bees was T.ray. The person who got hurt in Heroes was both Nicole and Francis, while the Person in Secret life of Bees was Lily. And finally the person who didn't know where to get help from in heroes was Francis and in the secret life of Bees was Lily.
Lily can not handle the truth, she put it off for such a long time. We all knew she knew what happened but she refused to believe it, and when she did she flipped out.
ReplyDeleteIt was like when the girl in freedom writers flipped out because she didn't know what to do when she found out Anne Frank dies in the end of the book.