The 12-year-old protagonist and narrator of Hour of the Bees, Carolina, prefers to be known as Carol for most of the story. She’s initially insecure and lacks confidence and she’s nervous about starting junior high the following year. She anglicizes her name as “Carol” to fit in with the other Mexican American kids at school: “My friends Gabby and Sofie are really Gabriela and Sofía, but we don’t call them that, not since Manuela Rodriguez, the Manuela Rodriguez, started going by Manny” (24). Carol evidently feels peer pressure to behave in certain ways to fit in with the popular kids at school. Furthermore, Carol often finds herself at the whims of the moods of her older half-sister, Alta; when Alta is in a bad mood, “she’ll look at me with cold eyes, like I’m a cockroach to her” (36).

Carol’s confidence grows throughout the novel as she reconnects to her Hispanic and familial roots. Serge tells her the story of the enchanted tree, which features the brave and adventurous Rosa, Carol’s grandmother. Carol is initially skeptical of her similarity to Rosa, who was “full of fire,” but Serge recognizes this passion in Carol: “So are you, Caro-leeen-a.