The Hive: A Portrait of Post-War Madrid Society
The Hive: A Novel by Camilo José Cela
The Hive (La Colmena) is a major novel by Camilo José Cela. Due to censorship issues, it was first published in Buenos Aires in 1951. The final version did not appear in Spain until 1966. Cela, who had already published The Family of Pascual Duarte, among others, later shared the Nobel Prize. His work is characterized by technical innovation and a rather bleak view of humanity and the world.
Central Theme
The central theme of the novel is the uncertainty of human destiny in post-war Madrid. It examines the fear, hunger, abuse of power, and physical and moral degradation of Spanish society at the time, relieved only by a presence of solidarity among the impoverished.
Transitional Novel
The Hive is considered a transitional novel between the existential narratives of the 1940s and the social narratives of the 1950s. The former presents a negative and hopeless view of human existence. The latter, as a testimony, reflects a degraded reality with a critical attitude towards the more privileged social class, though without a clear political commitment.
Technical Features
- Concentration of Time: The action takes place over two days and one morning.
- Reduced Space: The setting is limited to Madrid.
- Collective Protagonist: More than 200 characters are listed, intersecting to form a network of relationships dominated by immoral conduct.
The most prominent character is Martín Marco, who acts as an itinerant character, serving as a link between different stories and characters. He represents, as a ‘social conscience,’ Cela himself.
Open Structure
The novel has an open structure. The plot is fragmented and dispersed, breaking the traditional structure of a beginning, middle, and end. Different sequences capture slices of life without us knowing their ultimate conclusion.
Narrative Point of View
The author oscillates between the objectivity characteristic of the social novel and an omniscient attitude. He often intervenes with direct reflections, sarcasm, disqualifications, or expressions of affection.
Style
The style includes a variety of registers in the dialogues and a contrast of tones in the narrator. Environmental descriptions are brief. The present tense predominates, and the prose has a strong rhythmic character, employing pacing, enumerations, and “strings” of adjectives or syntactic parallels.
Conclusion
The Hive is an interesting novel because of its technical innovations. While not difficult to understand, the structure reinforces the sense of decay and uncertainty that Cela wants to convey, all with nuanced language.
Repetition of Key Points (for SEO and emphasis)
Martín Marco
The most prominent character is Martín Marco, who acts as an itinerant character, serving as a link between different stories and characters. He represents, as a ‘social conscience,’ Cela himself.
Open Structure
The novel has an open structure. The plot is fragmented and dispersed, breaking the traditional structure of a beginning, middle, and end. Different sequences capture slices of life without us knowing their ultimate conclusion.
Narrative Point of View
The author oscillates between the objectivity characteristic of the social novel and an omniscient attitude. He often intervenes with direct reflections, sarcasm, disqualifications, or expressions of affection.
Style
The style includes a variety of registers in the dialogues and a contrast of tones in the narrator. Environmental descriptions are brief. The present tense predominates, and the prose has a strong rhythmic character, employing pacing, enumerations, and “strings” of adjectives or syntactic parallels.
Conclusion
The Hive is an interesting novel because of its technical innovations. While not difficult to understand, the structure reinforces the sense of decay and uncertainty that Cela wants to convey, all with nuanced language.