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Rosaleen
Deborah Owens is T. Ray Owens’s wife and Lily Owens’s mother. She’s arguably the most complex character in the novel: because she died years before the time when the novel is set, she’s available to the other characters only through memories and old possessions. For most of the book, Lily regards her mother as a kind, loving woman. Toward the end, however, we learn that the truth is more complicated: while Deborah loved Lily dearly, she abandoned Lily for three months to live with August in Tiburon, South Carolina. When Deborah returned to her family, intending to take Lily with her and away from T. Ray, there was a horrible accident, resulting in Lily accidentally shooting her mother. Overall, Deborah is a woman of contradictions: loving yet shockingly neglectful. As such, she’s a perfect example of August’s wise statement, “We all have flaws.”
Deborah Fontanel Owens Quotes in The Secret Life of Bees
The The Secret Life of Bees quotes below are all either spoken by Deborah Fontanel Owens or refer to Deborah Fontanel Owens. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
Time folded in on itself then. What is left lies in clear yet disjointed pieces in my head. The gun shining like a toy in her hand, how he snatched it away and waved it around, The gun on the floor. Bending to pick it up. The noise that exploded around us. This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away.
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Chapter 12
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“Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes, Lily. Every last one. We’re all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake, but she tried to fix it.”
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Chapter 14
Quotes
In a weird way I must have loved my little collection of hurts and wounds. They provided me with some real nice sympathy, with the feeling I was exceptional. I was the girl abandoned by her mother. I was the girl who kneeled on grits. What a special case I was.
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Drifting off to sleep, I thought about her. How nobody is perfect. How you just have to close your eyes and breathe out and let the puzzle of the human heart be what it is.
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He stood over me. “Deborah,” I heard him mumble. “You’re not leaving me again.” His eyes looked frantic, scared. I wondered if I’d heard him right.
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Deborah Fontanel Owens Quotes in The Secret Life of Bees
The The Secret Life of Bees quotes below are all either spoken by Deborah Fontanel Owens or refer to Deborah Fontanel Owens. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Time folded in on itself then. What is left lies in clear yet disjointed pieces in my head. The gun shining like a toy in her hand, how he snatched it away and waved it around, The gun on the floor. Bending to pick it up. The noise that exploded around us. This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
“Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes, Lily. Every last one. We’re all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake, but she tried to fix it.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14
Quotes
In a weird way I must have loved my little collection of hurts and wounds. They provided me with some real nice sympathy, with the feeling I was exceptional. I was the girl abandoned by her mother. I was the girl who kneeled on grits. What a special case I was.
Related Characters:
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Drifting off to sleep, I thought about her. How nobody is perfect. How you just have to close your eyes and breathe out and let the puzzle of the human heart be what it is.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He stood over me. “Deborah,” I heard him mumble. “You’re not leaving me again.” His eyes looked frantic, scared. I wondered if I’d heard him right.
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Page Number and Citation:
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