Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses abuse and depression.

“Bees need the warmth of family; alone, a single bee isn’t likely to make it through the night.”

The Importance of Family Support is a prominent theme throughout The Honey Bus. As a young girl, author Meredith May felt abandoned by her parents and empathized with bees, who cannot survive without the hive.

“I curtained my eyes with my shoulder-length hair, blotting out reality so that I could almost believe that I was safe inside a yellow submarine, below the surface, alone, and so far down I couldn’t hear any voices at all.”

The ongoing trauma of her parents’ violent fights and divorce follows Meredith throughout her life, leading her to seek escape in nature. In this early scene from her childhood, five-year-old Meredith hides under one of her favorite toys and imagines that she is under the sea in order to escape the violent reality of her present. The reference to a yellow submarine also references The Beatles, who symbolize nostalgia and yearning for better times in the memoir.

“Hissing steam rose, and when I released my grip, Matthew had turned into a blue glass totem, about the size of a soda can. He was trapped in the glass, and I could hear him screaming to be let out.”

Although Meredith is only five years old when her parents divorce, she immediately feels responsible for her younger brother, Matthew. This passage, from a dream she has on the plane to California, suggests that Meredith sees her brother as a vulnerable, fragile treasure to be protected.