Hour of the Bees

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-8

Chapters 9-16

Chapter 17-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Sociohistorical Context: New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the Southwest region of the United States. It’s bordered by Mexico to the southwest and by the states of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arizona. The state’s climate varies greatly; it’s 121,591 square miles in area, and some parts of the state, particularly in the north, where the Rocky Mountains extend, have higher elevations and cooler, alpine climates. Conversely, in the southern part of the state, where Hour of the Bees is set, the climate is hot and arid.

Humans are estimated to have lived in the region for over 10,000 years. The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, had a complex network of dwellings across the Colorado Plateau (which includes parts of Northern New Mexico). In the region that is now southern New Mexico, the Mogollon peoples lived. Many of the dwellings of both the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mogollon were built into cliffs and mountains and still survive today, such as the Cliff Palace in Montezuma Country, Colorado.

The area became contested in the late 15th Century, when nomadic tribes of the Navajo and Apache groups arrived and settled in the area. In the 18th Century, Comanche people also settled in parts of New Mexico.

New Mexico fell under the colonial control of New Spain and then became part of the newly recognized, independent country of Mexico in 1821. Many New Mexicans resented the administrative control and taxation of Mexico, and in 1837 revolted in an event known as the Río Arriba Rebellion. A briefly established independent state, called the Cantón, was led by José María González and Pablo Montoya, who identified as Taos Pueblo Indians. The region came under US control as a territory after the Mexican-American War of 1848 and became a US state in 1912.

These layers of history created a unique ethnic identity within New Mexico that is characterized by a confluence of Indigenous (Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo), Hispanic (Mexican and Spanish), and US influences (“New Mexico.” History, 2022). Eagar explores these warring influences in Hour of the Bees, which features a protagonist of Hispanic heritage who initially wishes to identify as American rather than Hispanic.

Medical Context: Dementia

Dementia is an umbrella term for several degenerative diseases that affect memory, thinking, and the ability to perform daily tasks. Age-related memory changes, such as misplacing items, temporarily forgetting names, or forgetting recent events, are normal, but dementia represents a degenerative process outside the parameters of normal aging. Dementia causes people to struggle with their memory (including their memory of long-past events), attention, communication, reasoning, and visual perception.

The most common type of dementia is that caused by Alzheimer’s disease, which affects the plaques and tangles of the brain. People who have Alzheimer’s disease typically forget recent events initially, and later can forget distant memories. Personality and mood changes are also common, as are difficulties in walking and communication.

Dementia can also result from strokes or other issues affecting blood flow to the brain; this kind of dementia, called vascular dementia, progresses in severity as an individual has strokes or mini-strokes (transient ischemic attacks). Other types of dementia include Lewy body dementia, which affects movement and balance, and frontotemporal dementia, which typically causes individuals to act in inappropriate and unexpected ways totally outside of the bounds of their usual practices and behaviors (“About Dementia.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).

In Hour of the Bees, Serge has dementia (though the novel doesn’t establish the specific type or origin of the dementia), which causes him to have emotional outbursts, to become confused and disorientated, and to forget established plans or recent conversations. This causes significant distress for Serge and his family members, including the protagonist, Carol.