In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Owens defines herself by her mistakes; the memory of his mother's death haunts every aspect of his life. Escaping her old life, attempting to overcome guilt and find the truth in her actions, Lily realizes that she is seeking knowledge and experience in herself, rather than forgiveness. In Tiburon, Lily learns about love; how to find it where there once was hatred, how to forgive and how to love everyone. In this way, Lily is no longer able to define herself by her mistakes, but by what she has learned from them and, ultimately, learns to love herself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Under T-ray's tyrannical control, Lily has never been given the opportunity to learn about love and that you can love someone you once hated. When Lily meets June, who she doesn't like at first, she doesn't realize the possibility of loving June despite her harsh ways. The racial tension of the time causes June to initially treat Lily coldly because "she's white." June learns to accept Lily as time goes by, but it takes Lily more than time itself to do the same. Spraying June with the water hose helped Lily realize her love for June despite her initial mean ways, and allowed June to "hug her while their clothes made sweet, soft sounds up and down their bodies" (Kidd 170) By finally embracing June, Lily showed the sisterly intimacy between the two girls and taught Lily how to love the person she despised. Learning to love this way has helped Lily a lot, but with the creation of new love comes forgiveness. Once Lily understands that love can be created in a place where there once was hate, she can learn to forgive. Lily's relationship with T-ray was anything but paternal, "dad was never good for him." (Kidd, 2), but Lily must realize that love comes in many forms that are not necessarily as obvious as others. T-ray's inability to show affection for Lily leads her to believe that he doesn't love her, thinking "what if he doesn't know the color you love most?" (Kidd, 160). For Lily, not knowing or caring about the little things about her tells her that T-ray doesn't truly love her. However, while raising bees, August teaches Lily "there are 32 names for love in the Eskimo language" (Kidd, 140). From this Lily concludes that if there are 32 names for love, then there are just as many different types of love, and T-ray is not the only type she knew before. Now that Lily knows that T-ray truly loves her but shows it in a way she wasn't able to understand before, she can call him "daddy," a word that once didn't sit well with him. By forgiving others, Lily can forgive herself and develop a single love for all things. In order for Lily to fully understand what she is looking for, she must learn how to connect all her experiences together, creating one love. Lily will never be able to achieve full inner peace with herself until she understands the concept of oneness, one love for all things and everyone. While I take care of the bees. Lily desperately tries to send love to them all, shouting, “I love you, I love you. He tried to say it 32 ways.” (Kidd. 149). Lily knows she must achieve love, but she is overwhelmed and confused, thinking that only her words and thoughts will achieve this goal. However, this goal is nothing more than a concept until Lily manages to realize it through her actions. Lily finally realizes this and “traces Black Mary's heart with her finger. You are the mother of thousands” (Kidd, 164). The spiritual Black Madonna guides Lily through the.