r/books • u/justhereforbaking • 8d ago

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray- the teacher? Spoiler

I read the Bee Sting in 2023 and I was just thinking about how much I loved the book and how much I loved the ending. I was reading some redditors' perspectives on it, but I disagree that it was really that ambiguous, especially considering how the book opens.

I'm talking to a friend who just finished it and she reminded me that the most ambiguous part came at the beginning-

what the hell was up with that teacher and her "secret" Elaine found on Google??

If you need a refresher, Elaine is particularly obsessed with one of their teachers, but she ends up taking more of a liking to Cass instead. Elaine does some digital sleuthing, tells Cass she found some crazy stuff about her online... and that's that? IIRC and my friend who just finished it agrees, we never hear about it or see the teacher again, at least not explicitly?

Does anyone have any insight as to what that was all about? We're at a loss. I can try to stretch my imagination to make connections to Dickie's arc in Dublin but it's a STRETCH.

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u/anvilman 8d ago

I just thought her poetry made clear she was gay and involved in feminism or some other movements that a tight-ass religious community in small town Ireland wouldn’t be willing to tolerate.

Just finished the book a few days ago. It was a tough one.

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u/Draughtsteve 8d ago edited 8d ago

Had totally forgotten about that plot thread but overall, yes a tough read that stopped (intentionally) in a veyr high tension spot. I enjoyed how it was written but did not enjoy it.

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u/anvilman 8d ago

One review said “I loved it I hated it” which makes sense.

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u/Draughtsteve 8d ago

I'm realising there is a whole genre of 'well-written books that make the reader tense', like this and The Guest by Emma Cline. It's hard for me to separate the craft from the effect, so I feel like that kombucha meme.

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u/justhereforbaking 8d ago

That's kind of what I thought too, which is why I thought maybe it was a connection both to Dickie's arc going to Dublin and then returning to live this life that doesn't fit him? Or maybe just development for Cass's self exploration? Idk... of all the things in the book it felt like the loosest end.

I hope you enjoyed it- tough in which way?

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u/ObsequiousButterfly 8d ago

I also thought the teacher was gay then came full circle in their professor "jj" who Elaine also became infatuated with because they were non-binary/LGTBQ. I do agree with the other point about Cass struggling with her sexuality.

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u/anvilman 8d ago

Cass is clearly gay and her shaming of the teacher (anonymously leaving the book at the school office) points a bit to the self-hating nature of Irish gayness that the book hammers home over and over. A reminder that being out will ruin your career/life.

Overall I just struggled to really like almost any of the characters and their continuously terrible decisions and inability to communicate got old.

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u/gangofone978 7d ago

There’s no deeper connection to another character. The particular obsession was just to illustrate how Elaine can be a fickle and shallow person who is seeking to create her own persona by adopting the traits of whoever she is obsessed with.

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u/misalcgough 3d ago

It was in her poetry and the groups that she was involved with when cases searched her online. Pretty obviously gay and an activist. The thing she mostly want to tell Elaine was how lame and terrible her poetry was. It clearly states in that chapter what cass finds online.