One Hundred Years of Solitude

The symbol of yellow butterflies and flowers fluttering from the sky is a recurring image that represents the relationship of the newly dead to the world of the living. It is a sendoff or magical eulogy. When José Arcadio dies in Chapter 7, tiny yellow flowers fall from the sky like rain. There are so many flowers that other inhabitants of Macondo have to sweep them away from the streets so that no one slips and falls. These flowers are not connected to any physical, natural event. They appear spontaneously, as if they were an incarnation of his soul. Similarly, yellow butterflies often accompany Mauricio Babilonia, though in his case Meme knows that he likely died only because of their absence, not due to their presence. These symbols are not based in Catholicism, unlike much of the other imagery in the novel. This reflects a key feature of Latin American magical realism; it transforms everyday objects into magical elements that connect the world to the spiritual or supernatural beyond.