The Bees by Dan Chaon

Welcome to another post. In this post, I will be using quotes and pictures to help explain different elements in the story The Bees. The elements will be characterization, mood, and foreshadowing.

The picture represents the main character.

Characterization: “He thinks of the way she leaned over him and brushed his hair as he stared at her, imprisoned in a full body cast, sweating his way through withdrawal and DTs.” This quote gives us an idea of Gene (main character) in the story. It tells us that he had a rough past and alcohol/drugs were heavily involved in his life.



This picutre represents Gene(main character) thinking.



Foreshadowing: “He can’t sleep. The presentiment that Mandy and DJ are dead has lodged heavily in his mind.” Mandy is his former wife and DJ is his son. He hasn’t seen them for a long time. From this quote we can guess that he may go back to drinking to take the thought out of his mind or maybe try and find them.



This can represent the mood of the story which is a dark psycological story. Death is also thought alot through out the story.



 Mood:“Here is a high empty wail that severs Gene from his unconsciousness like sharp teeth. It is the worst sound Gene can imagine, the sound of a child dying violently.” The narrator is describing Gene’s mental reaction to his son Frankie who sometimes wakes up and screams randomly. This sets the mood of the story to a psychological horror type.