Themes

·        Forgiveness: Lily’s mother leaves her and Lily has trouble forgiving her for it until August makes her realize that everyone makes mistakes; June realizes that she cannot hold a grudge against Lily because August was her mother’s maid; "People, in general, would rather die than forgive.  It's that hard.  If God said in plain language, 'I'm giving you a choice, forgive or die," a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin." (Lily Owens) 

·        Universal love: August tells Lily, “..send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved.” Love is also present in the relationship between Lily and Zachary Taylor and Neil and June. The love of a mother figure, such as the Black Mary, was also a new concept for Lily because her father resented her and never showed her any love

·        Racism: Lily is naïve about racial problems until she stays with the Boatwright sisters. Then she comes to realize all of the things that racism causes and the way it affects a person’s way of life. Lily also realizes how she herself had some racial prejudice and how to overcome it; “Take my advice and call your aunt and tell her to come on and get you, even if she isn’t a hundred percent well. These are colored people here. You understand what I’m saying?” (Mr. Hazelwurst)