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What is the "literal" leaf in the leaf storm in the short story?

Considered by most readers to be a novella rather than a short story, since it's almost a hundred pages long, "Leaf Storm" takes its title from the "storm" (or sudden influx) of workers and companies in the banana business who seem to flutter in all at once and take over the town of Macondo, drastically changing the landscape of its economy and social structure before leaving just as suddenly as it arrived, causing more devastation and instability to the town.


So while there is no truly literal leaf other than the leaves on the banana trees, the "leaf" in the title can be interpreted most simply as any investor, worker, or company who blew into town to take advantage of the banana boom. Imagine these folks like wispy little insubstantial leaves: they fly in, in great quantities, and make a chaotic mess.


You can also consider how the multiple voices that narrate the novella are their own "leaf storm," or that the nature of the conflict in this story is a "leaf storm" in that it's chaotic and yet all the upheaval it causes is only temporary.

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