Story Grammar

Story: The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Robert Cormier

Plot: Death surrounds Barney in the Complex. But it isn't scary for him because the Complex is all Barney knows of life. It is all the doctors in the Complex will let him know. Life in the Complex forces Barney to confront truth. It forces him to confront lies. It forces him to discover what really matters in a life well lived.

Themes: Deception - faking yourself out, Truth, Promises, Finding meaning and hope in life, Routines, Death

Setting: An experimental hospital called the Complex in the present day.

Characters: Barney (protagonist), Mazzo (Alberto), Billy the Kidney, Allie Roon, Cassie Mazzofono, The Handyman, Nurse Bascam, and Dr. Croft.

CHAIN OF EVENTS:

Initiating Events:
A. Barney and his friends, Billy and Allie, govern themselves by the unspoken rules of the Complex until one day Barney decides he'll climb the Complex fence. Finding a fake red car in the junkyard next to the Complex. Sitting on top of the fence, he sees a beautiful red car. Upon closer examination he finds that it's not even a real car - it's put together with wood and screws.
B. Mazzo has a telephone installed in his room - something not possible for any other patient in the Complex.

Internal Responses:
A. Barney can't understand why someone would go to the trouble of making a life-size fake car.
B. Mazzo's telephone causes Barney to confront Mazzo and eventually meet Cassie, Mazzo's sister. This event triggers Barney's generosity toward Billy and the others.

Attempt/ Outcome: Barney helps Billy by making a deal with Mazzo. As long as Barney is around when Cassie comes to visit, Billy can use Mazzo's phone. The deal is made and Barney falls in love with Cassie at first sight. As Barney becomes more enamored with Cassie, his friendship becomes stronger with Mazzo. Mazzo used to be a brilliant young man but is now dying slowly. He confides in Barney that he wishes he could go out in a blaze of glory. Barney wants to make this dream come true. He decides to steal the fake red car from the junkyard and let Mazzo have that one last ride. He steals it piece by piece and reassembles it in the attic of the Complex. Barney's interest in Mazzo causes him to ask more questions. Why are they all at the Complex anyway? He wonders why he has no memory prior to the Complex. He wonders why he is haunted by the same nightmare where he runs over a girl with a car. This causes him to sneak around the complex, going into locked rooms to investigate his purpose at the Complex. He discovers the truth: the doctors have been using drugs to block his memory and feed him other memories that are not his own. He learns that like the others, he too is dying and all that he has known has been a lie.

Resolution: Barney compares his fake red car to a bumblebee. According to the rules of science, a bumblebee cannot fly, but it does anyway. Barney knows that even though the red car is fake, he can get it to go. He leads Mazzo out to the roof of the Complex in the middle of the night. They will ride off the roof and die in a blaze of glory. It takes all that they have to get up to the roof - both are near death. Just before the final ride, Barney realizes that he does not want to die yet. He lets Mazzo make the final ride alone because if a bumblebee can fly and a fake red car can move; he can live.

Reaction: This is wonderful writing. Through Barney, the experienced reader sees how precious life is and how important it is to know why we do the things we do. Cormier seems to be commenting on those who live their lives with no questions - just blindly follow the way things are set up. Maybe, like Barney and Mazzo, we are at the Complex and don't know it. The Complex drives some of us to suicide. It drives people like Barney, who are able to discover the truth, to a rebirth of life.