The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees: Personification 1 key example

Definition of Personification

Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Words from Luke:

As August tells Lily about her own mother, Big Mama, she uses a metaphor to help Lily understand that even things that aren’t strictly factual can contain important truths. To illustrate this, she tells Lily about a story Big Mama told her as a child:

“[S]he went out to the hives on Christmas Eve and heard the bees singing the words of the Christmas story right out of the gospel of Luke [...] Some things happen in a literal way, Lily. And then other things [...] happen in a not-literal way, but they still happen [...] the bees weren’t really singing the words from Luke, but still, if you have the right kind of ears, you can listen to a hive and hear the Christmas story somewhere inside yourself. You can hear silent things on the other side of the everyday world that nobody else can.