The Secret Life of Bees

The Our Lady of Chains statue in the parlor of the pink house is both a passed-down relic and story. She is the focal point of the Daughters of Mary services and functions both as a reminder of the Daughters’ shared and orally remembered history and as a symbol of help for the present and future. During the first Daughters of Mary service, Lily feels the desire to touch Mary’s heart along with all of the other women, but when June stops playing the piano, she knows she is not welcome to participate in this ritual. Lily decides that she cannot approach August with her story and her truth until she has touched Mary’s heart, which she eventually does. While Mary is a powerful symbol, August tells Lily that the statue only possesses the power that has been assigned to it. While Lily, being a white woman, is not part of this particular Our Lady story in that it is not meant for her but for all the Black women who gather at August’s house, Lily can always access the divine mother who exists in her already.