The Secret Life of Bees

Lily begins to question her own notions about race after she meets the Boatwright sisters. She becomes very aware of her whiteness when she is surrounded by black women. She also understands now that she has held prejudices concerning the level of intelligence of a black person versus that of a white person. In particular, Lily can sense that August can see through her lies and that August knows much more than she is revealing. Such moments of understanding allow Lily to recognize her prejudice, and later she will be able to cast it aside.