The Bee Sting

Why is the novel named after the lie about the bee sting? Why is this incident foundational or emblematic of the rest of the novel’s events?

Compare two father-son or mother-daughter relationships in the novel. What traumas, beliefs, and expectations do parents pass onto their children? How do children handle the weight of this history?

How do external world conflicts such as economic recession, class mobility, anti-gay bias, and climate change impact the characters in this novel? How do these larger forces contribute to the novel’s themes?