The Secret Life of Bees

After May’s burial, August and June retreat into their own private mourning spaces and are inaccessible to Lily. Zach wants to talk of nothing but the race riots in New Jersey, and Lily believes she can detect a change in him since he’s gotten out of jail. A few days later, when Rosaleen makes a special dinner for the four of them, August again asks June if she’s going to marry Neil, and June still won’t give an answer. August puts May’s suicide note into a crevice in the Our Lady of Chains statue and signifies that the mourning process is over.

Lily wakes up the next morning to prepare for Mary Day, a two-day celebration on the Feast of Assumption. While the women are working in the kitchen to prepare for Mary Day, Neil comes into the house and asks June to marry him, and she finally says yes. The Daughters of Mary arrive, and the celebration begins. Lily participates in the rituals of Mary Day, including the ceremony of covering the statue in chains for the night. The statue is wheeled out to the honey house, and Lily disappears with Zach, where they have their first kiss down by the river.