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At around the same time in their lives, when they are young children, Phoebe and Paul experience swelling and anaphylaxis as a result of their allergies to bees. When Paul touches a dead bee on the windowsill of his bedroom and his hand begins swelling, Norah and David know what to do for him—David, too, has a terrible bee allergy. When Phoebe, however, is stung by a bee far away in Pittsburgh and her throat begins closing up, Caroline is unprepared for the severity of the reaction, and together with Al, rushes Phoebe to a hospital for treatment. The near-simultaneous but very different experiences Paul and Phoebe have with bees symbolize their parallel but very different lives—the ways in which the twins are growing up facing many of the same issues, but without one another to rely on.
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Bees Symbol Timeline in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
The timeline below shows where the symbol Bees appears in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8: May 1970
...on the playground with the other children—and warns his teacher that he’s terribly allergic to bees, and had a bad reaction recently after simply picking a dead bee up off the...
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Chapter 10: June 1970
...interrupted when Phoebe begins sobbing and holds up her hand—Caroline can see she’s gotten a bee sting. Caroline runs to Phoebe and comforts her, but soon Phoebe’s sobs turn to wheezes...
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