The Bee Sting

In 2008, the housing crisis in the United States initiated a world-wide economic crash. In Ireland, the subsequent recession turned into a depression by 2009, with devalued real estate and stocks preventing rebuilding, deepening job losses, and causing the collapse of businesses. In Ireland specifically, many housing developments that had been under construction during the real estate boom that preceded the crash were abandoned and remain so to this day.

Financial instability is one of the central conflicts in the novel. Murray depicts this reality through Big Mike’s failed construction project, the unfinished homes in the forest where he keeps his mistress Augustina. The financial crisis is also a central conflict for Dickie and his family; the Barnes car dealership suffers huge setbacks during the recession as people stop buying cars. This puts Cass’s future at university in question, a problem faced by many other young Irish people at the time.

Murray also uses the financial crisis of 2008 to highlights the unpredictable ways in which the world can turn against people who wish to control the uncontrollable. While the financial crisis is a huge burden on the Barnes family, it only exacerbates their existing psychological and relational problems. Imelda and Dickie’s marriage has always been based on convenience rather than love, Dickie’s unfulfilled sexuality and decision to live his brother Frank’s life, Cass’s struggles to understand and nurture her love for Elaine, PJ’s problems with a bully and unsavory online friendships, all make the financial crisis only the tip of the iceberg for the existential and emotional unmasking of the Barnes family.