The archetypal storyteller
The storytelling narrative is a symbol for the author's intentions, but through the lens of an archetypal figure. The narrator is not the author, nor do the ideas of the narrator necessarily align perfectly with the author. Rather, the narrator is symbol, demonstrating the value of suspended disbelief, the art of storytelling, and specifically, the mystic and philosophical conclusions that can be drawn about reality based on storytelling. The storyteller does tell a story, but not before teaching his two cents about stories.
The allegory of Macabea
The story told is the allegory of Macabea. This story is about the futility of life and its meaninglessness, but that isn't quite true, because of Macabea's meaningful, open-minded attitude toward others (even those that hurt her). Her life would have been meaningless and futile if she depended on getting what she wanted, but she chose to be sincere and personable even when there was no "reason" for her to do that. Her experience is meaningful because of her character.
The abusive anti-husband
One of the greatest trials that faces Macabea in her life of earnestness is that she believes the best about people which leaves her in a position to be the martyr of human malice and evil. She understands that Olimpico is damaged, but she feels that through love and support, he could change. She doesn't understand that some people choose to take their suffering as license to be full of malice, and she learns the hard way, because he beats her and abuses her. When he leaves her, it is a blessing in disguise. He is a symbol of patriarchal brokenness, because he dominates her and then abuses her.
Madame Carlota, the seer
Madame Carlota is also in an archetypal role in the story. She is like the blind seer, except backwards. The blind seer is an archetype that appears in world mythology throughout the planet where a blind person is a prophet who receives visions from heaven. Instead, this spiritualist is the opposite. She is earthly and her prophecies are wrong. She predicts a happy life of abundance, but then Macabea walks out and dies in the street. She is wrong about her prophecies, so the reader must struggle to reconcile her words as either snake oil or perhaps true in some grand sublime sense.
The unlikely demise
The demise of Macabea is a symbol for the novel's central themes, because she is the avatar of the story, especially since the storyteller begins the novel with his philosophy of storytelling. In light of those considerations, Macabea's death symbolizes the dilemma of a narrative that ends in death. It highlights the absurdity of Macabea's desires in light of the ultimate threat, and it makes the story strange and perplexing.
