Hour of the Bees

“‘Yes, I know,’ Serge snaps. ‘Carolina. And Luis.’”

Raúl has just introduced “Carol” and “Lu” to his father. Serge’s angry tone and his correction illustrate his disapproval of his grandchildren’s anglicizing their Spanish names. Serge is proud of his family’s Mexican roots and believes that his family should share this pride in their identity.

“Her bloodshot eyes droop at half-mast, and her fur is peppered white and gray around her snout.”

Serge’s elderly sheepdog, Inés, mirrors his advanced age. Inés, like Serge, is influenced by the remaining magic from the destroyed magical tree: Both the dog and her owner live an unusually long life. Raúl doesn’t believe that Inés is the same dog he knew throughout his childhood, revealing his skepticism about Serge’s story of the magical tree and the enchanted village.

“‘If you see any more bees, chiquita, tell me. The bees will bring back the rain.’

‘Don’t you mean the rain will bring back the bees?’ I ask, hoping my correction won’t upset him.”

The novel’s exposition introduces the mysterious and magical role of bees. The bees are symbolically tied both to Rosa and Carol and to the magical tree. Serge’s dementia establishes him as an unreliable narrator; Carol thus doubts the legitimacy of his story, which seems far-fetched, but she comes to believe in the magical occurrences that Serge describes. The reappearance of bees foreshadows the rejuvenation of the ranch, which Carol brings about.

“‘Caro-leeen-a,’ he says, ‘is a beautiful, strong, Spanish name. You should use it. Every day. For everything.’”

Carol’s given name (Carolina) embarrasses her. Like the other Mexican American kids at her school, she shortens it to a more American version. Serge interprets this change as disrespectful of Carol’s family of origin and their heritage, especially given that Carol is named after her great-aunt, Carolina.

“They get to stay in Albuquerque and hang out while I’m stuck here for the summer.”

Carol envies her friends, who stay in the city over the summer. Her description of being “stuck” at the ranch conveys her initial dislike of the arid countryside; she feels marooned in an awful and boring place. Later, she returns to the city and misses the ranch; this characterizes the change in Carol over the summer: She grows to love the ranch and to understand its significance to her family’s heritage.

“‘No lo sé,’ Mom says. I don’t know, she means.

‘What’s with all the Spanish?’

‘I can’t speak Spanish?’ she says. ‘We’re Mexican, after all.’

‘Mexican American,’ I correct under my breath, ‘and we never act like the Mexican part.’”

The ranch makes the family feel more connected to their Hispanic roots, as is illustrated in Patricia’s increasing use of Spanish, which Carol resents. This alludes to Nature’s Role in Shaping Identity as a theme. At this point in the story, the “Mexican” part of Carol’s Mexican American identity embarrasses her; she feels different and prefers to identify solely as “American.”

“‘You belong with the stars, like she did.’

I shake my head and walk over to him. ‘I don’t think so. Dad says she was full of fire.’

Serge’s cat eyes gleam in the darkness. ‘But so are you, Caro-leeen-a. A hidden fire. A volcano.’

‘That sounds more like Alta. Not me.’ The truth of this statement burns, right above my stomach. Alta’s the fiery one. Not me.

‘No,’ Serge insists. ‘Sounds like you, Caro-leeen-a.’”

Carol grows in confidence throughout the story, largely because of her relationship with Serge, who helps her to see the similarities between herself and her fiery and adventurous grandmother Rosa. As this anecdote illustrates, at the beginning of the story, Carol compares herself unfavorably to her older half-sister, Alta; she considers Alta more attractive, interesting, and passionate than herself.

“I want to see the corners of the earth. I want to see oceans. Mountains, forests, even other deserts. Snow.”

Rosa’s description of the sites outside of the bounds of the village reveal her desire to travel. Despite the safety that the magical tree offers, Rosa would prefer to risk her life in order to experience all that the world has to offer.

“The world was the empty clam shell and the tree, the pearl.”

Sergio and Rosa represent the push and pull of whether to stay in the village, which is magically protected from pain and death, or risk one’s life to see the world beyond it. Sergio is grateful for what they have and finds the idea of leaving inconceivable. He epitomizes gratitude for what one already has, but his outlook can also be interpreted as overly cautious and fearful.

“‘We could take turns,’ Sergio said. ‘One bracelet is enough, isn’t it?’

‘But we have this whole tree,’ Rosa countered.”

In this exchange, Sergio urges moderation and reason, countering the desire of Rosa and the other villagers to cut down more of the tree. His concern eventually proves prophetic; once the villagers start cutting the three, they cut more and more away until the whole tree is gone. This action reveals their greed.

“At first, nothing in her face is familiar. She’s beautiful and glamorous, and I’m, well, I’m like my dad. But then I realize her eyes are just like our eyes, too—squinty, with stubby eyelashes and no color in the irises, just dull black. Looking at Rosa, I see how I can tilt my chin up, glance at the world from beneath my eyelids like they’re heavy drapes, and add sparkle to my dark eyes by thinking mischievous thoughts.”

Carol was previously disdainful about her own looks, considering herself average-looking compared to her effortlessly beautiful older sister, Alta. However, seeing a picture of the glamorous Rosa and noticing Rosa’s similarity to herself gives Carol confidence in her own appearance.

“Then it happened. People started leaving. One family at a time, they tiptoed away from the lake and danced over the ridge. They camped under different stars, then returned.

They trekked into open desert and met up with coyotes. Snakes. Spiders. Cliffs. Rushing rivers with shifting, tricky currents. Purple lightning strikes. But they always returned.”

The range of amazing sites the villagers see conveys the wonder of the world outside the village; this aligns with Rosa’s belief that in order to live a happy and full life, the villagers should leave the village and explore. Furthermore, the perils they encounter, such as dangerous animals, strong river currents, and lightning strikes, suggests immortality or protection granted by their carrying pieces of the tree with them.

“Then it happens. Inés takes her last breath, and when her chest falls, it doesn’t rise again. She’s gone.”

The life of Inés, Serge’s sheepdog, who has lived an unusually long time due to the magical tree, is magically connected to the life of her owner, Serge. Inés’s death mirrors the degeneration of Serge’s health and his forced removal from the ranch. The text suggests that Inés is magically connected to the land as well as to Serge.

“‘I’ve never been anywhere else, chiquita,’ Serge says. ‘Will my new home have a ridge? Mesas? Will it smell like the ranch smells? There won’t be sheep, but will there at least be stars?’ His voice is laced with all his love for this place, this ranch that I try so hard to understand, but I always fall short.”

Serge’s grief-stricken declaration to Carol refers to Nature’s Role in Shaping Identity as a theme; he feels that in being taken from the ranch, he’s losing an enormous part of his identity. The ranch is so inextricably tied to Serge that he doesn’t think he can live happily apart from it.

“‘You want to put me away in a box! You’re burning me down!’ Serge propels himself up and out of the chair, hands flying in slow motion, aiming to attack his son. ‘I was just trying to kill the termites, you crazy old man!’ Dad shouts, his cheeks chili red. He pushes Serge away, hard, and my grandpa lands back in his chair with a sickening crunch.”

Raúl burns down the barn, viewing this action as the most efficient way to destroy the termite-ridden building. However, this is immensely distressing to Serge and represents a broader perception of Raúl trying to take his home away and destroy his identity. The story of Serge’s life, which he tells to Carol, contextualizes his distress: He reveals that the barn was his and Rosa’s first home. His connection to the ranch, symbolized in this exchange about the barn, alludes to the theme of Nature’s Role in Shaping Identity, while his heated argument with Raúl, who is exhausted with the job of caring for his father and preparing the ranch for sale, thematically alludes to The Impact of Aging on Individuals and Families.

“Every year, when seeds went in, the dirt got drier. Hot wind blew sand into his eyes and lungs. The bright green of the oasis faded to a sickly gold, and all plants disintegrated to grit. Without the shade of the tree, the sun beat down in violent punches. For the first time, Sergio felt like he lived in a desert.”

Imagery of the “oasis” that once was the village contrasts with the desert that the ranch becomes. The killing of the tree is characterized as a wasteful and destructive act, as is illustrated in the impact on the once-lush landscape, which has become an arid and infertile desert.

“She brought home a new language. ‘English,’ she said, ‘is the language of the future.’ Rosa taught it to Raúl, and it was all Raúl wanted to speak.

‘What is this?’ Sergio would point to a sheep when he and Raúl were cleaning the barn.

‘Sheep!’ came the tiny reply.

‘No, Raúl,’ Serge would correct. ‘La oveja. Oveja.’”

English symbolically connects to the outside world, which Rosa loves and bravely ventures into, whereas for Serge, Spanish connects to their Hispanic heritage and the family’s connection to the ranch. Raúl’s preference for English symbolizes his symbolic allegiance to Rosa’s preference for travel and adventure; this scares Serge, who wants to protect Raúl by keeping him on the ranch.

“Lying inside was a corpse, marble-eyed, staring at nothing: Carolina, Rosa’s beloved sister, dead.”

Carolina’s corpse symbolizes the impact of the tree’s destruction: The previously immortal villagers destroyed the source of their magic and therefore are subject to the laws of nature. At this point, Serge especially condemns the villagers’ destructive actions, but later the novel reframes the villagers’ deaths as a natural process that enabled them to live a fuller and more fulfilled life.

“‘Are you so excited to come home?’ Sofie’s message is still unanswered on my phone.

No, I’m not. I’m not ready to leave yet.”

Carol doesn’t reply to Sofie’s message, illustrating her confusion about her own feelings. Unexpectedly, Carol realizes that she’s not excited to go home to Albuquerque, revealing her growing connection to the ranch. This thematically alludes to Nature’s Role in Shaping Identity.

“Each bee carries…water.

A single drop of water.

They place the water on the seed, then buzz away. I barely breathe.

The bees are bringing back the rain.”

Carol triggers the regeneration of the arid ranch by planting the seed. Bees, which symbolically connect Carol to Rosa and to the magic of the tree, bring water to the seed, confirming the truth of Serge’s amazing story that the bees will bring the rain. Carol learns through Serge’s story how to save her family’s ranch, thematically alluding to The Power of Story in Identity and Connection.

“‘Squeeze the juice out of every day, Caro-leeen-a,’ Grandpa says. ‘Do not be afraid to live…and you will not be afraid to die.’”

As he nears death and sees the ranch returned to its former glory, Serge comes to believe in Rosa’s message that dying is worthwhile if it allows you to live fully and that Serge’s fear of death made him fearful of life. He encourages Carol to live authentically and with passion in order not to fear death. Death is recast not as something terrifying but as something that enables rebirth, a new beginning.

“‘That’s our ranch,’ Dad says, knotting his hands together. ‘It belongs to us. I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s our land. It always has been, and we shouldn’t ever let it go.’”

Nature’s Role in Shaping Identity is an important theme in Raúl’s realization that the ranch is a part of who they are and thus they shouldn’t sell it. The family recommits to the ranch, inspired by Carol returning Serge to the land when the rain comes. This mirrors a return to their Hispanic identity. The text implies that future generations of the family will continue to live on the ranch.

“‘Tree,’ Luis says. ‘Say árbol,’ I say.”

This interaction mirrors Serge’s instruction to young Raúl to call sheep “la oveja.” However, young Raúl is reluctant to identify with the ranch and keen to align himself with his mother. In this exchange, Carol (now Carolina) encourages Lu (now Luis) to speak Spanish, and the family moves symbolically back toward their Hispanic roots, as mirrored more broadly in their move back to the farm.