The Hive

Author: Camilo José Cela

AC_Cela_The_Hive.pdf

background

• Set in the 1940s
• La colmena
  • Many stories
  • Buzz
  • Centralized in one city/area
• One of the most important books in post-civil war Spain
  • Censorship → published in Buenos Aires
• Over 300 characters

analysis

• Closely engaged in narration
• Testimonial character
  • Vivid and credible
• Genre: critical realism of 1950s
  • Pessimistic, “unofficial” portrait of urban society
    • Middle and lower classes
• Deliberate attempts to scandalize reader through emphasis on intertwining violence, sex, misery, and hunger
• Absurd, dehumanizing, sordid
• Problematic portrayal of women
  • Viewed as sexual objects
  • Talking about sexual lives
  • 100% sexualized
  • Sex workers to not starve
    • This is not problematized, but stated as matter-of-fact
      • Acknowledged
• Bland statements, but no discussion of politics or religion
  • No mention of executions of “suspect” citizens
  • Only mentions “government fuss”
• Non-traditional structure
  • Chapters don’t really work as plot markers
  • Open structure
    • No closure at every stage
  • Structured around sequences that provide snippets of lives of many characters

style

• Fast paced
• Multiple protagonist (collective protagonist)
• Different language registers
• Abundant use of colloquialisms and vulgarisms
• Narrative perspective: “objective” but omniscient observer
• Narrator’s gaze
• Abundant use of dialogue
• Open work: lack of closure

discussion

• Is there a purpose to this narrative?
  • Each life is a story
    • Emphasis on seeing the stories around us
  • Personal stories multiply in a densely populated urban setting
    • Intertwined (🔗 ^ref-11955)
  • Everyone can be a story teller by observing those around oneself

characters

• Martín Marco
  • Intellectual
  • Pointing out extremes of society
    • Bathroom renovations vs. feeding family for whole year
  • Longing for equality or middle class
• Doña Rosa
  • Representation of the rich

themes

• Poverty and unhappiness
• Social inequalities
• Exploitation
• Hypocrisy
• Sexual mores
• Hunger

questions

notes

related

• Before the Coffee Gets Cold
• World War II (September 1939–September 1945)

related

• Entre visillos

highlights

Some people get pleasure out of being kind to those in mourning. They seize the opportunity to give advice, or to recommend resignation and fortitude, and have a very good time. – p. 7

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