THE IMPACT OF RACIAL ATMOSPHERE TOWARD LILY’S ATTITUDE IN BLACK COMMUNITY IN SUE MONK KIDD’S THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

Abstract

The belief that one race is superior than the other races, has been accused since the first men are created by God. Human firstly socializes only with similar physical appearances. This gathering which is known later as races happens, in each part of our world, including America. America which is used to be popular as a new world has been attracting many races to taste the beauty of this Island. It is why American is called as an Island that is usually known or called “melting pot”. Unfortunately, the Black race, one of races that came to America, did not arrive as citizen but as the slaves of white American. Afterwards, even the slavery was abolished in two hundred years ago in fact the Blacks are still threatened racist by American society. Sue Monk Kidd as the white woman author tries to raise the problem of racism in America and inspires her to write The Secret Life of Bees. She describes the racial atmosphere between Blacks and Whites toward Lily’s attitude, the main character of this novel and as the white girl who lives in Black Community, in South Carolina. Kidd argues that not all of the white people have the same opinion toward black people, especially about their races. In The Secret Life of Bees, the readers presents the story of white girl who struggles toward her father’s desire to hate Blacks. This thesis will analyze about the impact of racial atmosphere toward Lily’s attitude, one of the main characters in this novel, and about the effects of it. The problems that will be discussed in this thesis are how the racial atmosphere influences Lily’s attitude then and how the attitude causes the effects in Black community, especially in Boatwright’s family. To avoid the complex discussion, this thesis is limited only in Lily’s character, especially toward her attitude and it effects before and after lily’s confession. Meanwhile, there are three approaches which are used in this thesis; those are Historical approach, Psychological approach, and Sociological approach. This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction of the thesis. The second chapter informs the biography of Sue Monk Kidd and her works. The third chapter discusses about the meaning of the terms and the fourth chapter tells about the analysis. The last chapter informs the conclusion of all discussions in this thesis.