Books I Read Over the Last 6 Months

Since my 4th quarter and summer were a little different than the other kids in my class, I will list the new books I read in the past 6 months:

EBC:

-The Poinsonwood Bible--haunted my dreams.

-Native Son-I read this in about 3 days, it was so good.

-A Walk to Remember-really sad!

-About 10 Issues of the Economist and about 10 issues of really trashy gossip magazines (People, In Touch, etc.) These were delivered by helicopter along with fresh veggies. (The helicopter comes in to rescue someone. The helicopter would normally arrive to basecamp, so our friends back in the city sent us presents to make up a drop-off load)

-The Sun Also Rises (Junior Year Req. Reading)--I didn't really like this one

-The Great Gatsby (Junior Year Req. Reading)--LOVED IT

-Staying With Daisy-cute romance novel I picked up at this really neat secondhand bookstore in the city

Home:

-Secret Life of Bees (Reread)

-Lovely Bones (Reread)

-Time Traveler's Wife--I am about halfway through, really wonderful so far!

Memorable Books

1) Native Son, by Richard Wright: Not only did Native Son's plot keep my on the edge of my seat, but it's historical connections really interested me.

2) Lord of the Flies, William Golding: I read this book in a middle school lit class. The idea of isolation from civilization fascinates me. What if the island had been girls only?

3) How to Have Style, Issac Mizrahi: This book has a really interesting take on how to find your personal style in clothing. Instead of focusing on what items are "necessary" in one's closet, designer Issac Mirzahi focuses on methods for finding your individuality. I respect how his book about style is not one that focuses specifically what you need to buy, but rather realizing what makes you look and feel best.

4) Macbeth: Dr. Allison classic. I loved the drama in this book. This was also my first Shakespeare novel, so it holds a special place in my heart.

5) The Cold War, John Lewis Gaddis: This book explains all the confusing and conflicting aspects of of the Cold War so well to someone like me who knew nothing about it before opening the book. It is really clearly written and isn't as dry as some other history books I have read.

6) The Color of the Water, James Mcbride: This is another book I read in my middle school lit class. I loved the way McBride interlaces his own story with that of his mother's.

7) Animal Farm, George Orwell: This animal-human analogy was so cool and unlike anything I had ever read before--also, another middle school lit class book.

8) The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne: A fourth middle school lit class book. The village people are so ruthless!

9) The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver: I read this at EBC, usually at night curled up in my sleeping bag, trying to stay warm. While reading, this book became my dreams.

Color Psychology in the Secret Life of Bees

A prominent aspect of the Secret Life of Bees was its incorporation of color psychology. Before her time at the with the Boatwright sisters, Lily is confused about her feelings towards blacks as well as her feelings towards her own femininity. I believe that the “Pepto-Bismol” color of the Boatwright sisters’ house aided Lily in her transformation.

According to Color Matters, pink has a tranquilizing and calming effect on a human being. “Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, he [or she] can’t,” making pink a common choice for the color of prison cells. Pink is fusion of white, representing purity and innocence, and red, representing emotional intensity and often love. The combination of these two colors creates pink, which, beyond being tranquilizing, is also associated with femininity. Noting its two parent colors, I think Kidd’s use of pink as the color of the sisters’ house connotes that the women inside it are not only natural and pure in their womanhood, but also strong and passionate.

At the beginning of the novel, Lily expresses feelings so intense that she feels the need to express them through self-harm—“picking scabs off [her] body and, when [she] didn’t have any, gnawing the flesh around my fingernails till [she] was a bleeding wreck.”[1] I think her frustrations subconsciously led to her wanting to see the color of her red own blood, expressing her emotional intensity unhealthfully through the act of hurting herself. Lacking the guidance of her mother and feeling the strong influence of her abusive father, Lily feels lost and unfeminine. As she says in the beginning of the novel, “[She] felt half the time [she] was impersonating a girl instead of really being one.” Lily especially feels sad that she has no one to share the pride of her new “rose-petal” stain with (signifying her official womanhood)—only reinforcing that she feels that her femininity is stifled.

When Lily begins to live with the Boatwright sisters, she not only learns how to express emotions in a healthy way, but also she begins to appreciate her own femininity. Through these two changes, Lily is able to leave her feelings of racism behind her. Beyond the direct interactions with the uncanny Boatwright sisters themselves, I think Lily’s living in the Boatwright sisters’ unconventional pink house aided her in her transition. As previously mentioned, pink is a tranquilizing color. Lily already had red in her life—strong emotions and the indicator of womanhood, her ‘monthly visits.’ What Lily lacked was some of the associations with the color white: the purity and innocence that are often associated with youth. I interpret the loud presence of “Caribbean Pink” to help flush out the strength of the emotional intensity (red) in Lily’s life. I think the pink house, full of colorful women, helps Lily to accept her femininity by association. Through loving the uncanny sisters, Lily also learns to love Zach, a big step in admitting her own femininity and overcoming her racism.

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[1] Kidd, 9.