How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Turned on its side, the brick announced a happy bee family, no Ozzie, just Harriet and her ten thousand daughters (5.80).
Here, Lily is checking the hives with August (Zach has left bricks on each of the hives to indicate ones that need additional care/tending). She marvels at the family structure that bees maintain, which includes a mother (the queen, aka "Harriet") and her "ten thousand daughters." Given that Lily has become part of her own female-only family, it's no wonder she finds this significant . . .
Quote #5
'Everyone knew the mother of Jesus was named Mary, and that she'd seen suffering of every kind. That she was strong and constant and had a mother's heart. And here she was, sent to them on the same waters that had brought them here in chains. It seemed to them she knew everything they suffered' (6.73)
This is August telling the story of Our Lady of Chains. As she explains, this statue became a kind of maternal/religious symbol to the slaves who found it, inspiring them to find reserves of strength/resolve in themselves that helped them consider escape. Hearing about her powers, the master eventually took Our Lady and chained her up in the barn—but, as legend has it, she escaped and returned to the slaves' prayer house. The master and Our Lady apparently went through that same ritual 50 times until the master finally left her alone.
Quote #6
' . . . Big Mama kept bees, too, right out there in the same spot they're in today. Nobody around here had ever seen a lady beekeeper till her. She liked to tell everybody that women made the best beekeepers, 'cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting. 'It comes from years of loving children and husbands,' she'd say' (8.40).
Whereas beekeeping had traditionally been thought of as a profession for men, Big Mama believed that women were, in fact, more naturally suited for it. As we have already noted, the book frequently uses bees or bee imagery to suggest the power of mostly or entirely female groups.