The Machete: A Symbol of Destruction and Reclamation in This Could Be Us
What Is the Machete?
The machete in This Could Be Us is a family heirloom passed down through three generations of Soledad Barnes’s maternal line. Described as having a mother-of-pearl handle and a surprisingly sharp blade, it originally served practical kitchen and garden purposes—cutting brush, splitting coconuts, and slicing pork shoulders. Soledad inherits it from her late mother, who kept it in a chest alongside a Puerto Rican flag, a copy of bell hooks’s All About Love, and other keepsakes. As a literal object, the machete is a utilitarian tool, but its emotional weight transforms it into something far more significant over the course of the story: a weapon of fury, a catalyst for discovery, and eventually a badge of survival.
From Rage to Revelation: The Destruction Scene
The machete’s most dramatic appearance occurs in Chapter Ten, when Soledad—reeling from the discovery of her husband Edward’s infidelity and the chlamydia he gave her—unleashes her rage on his belongings. She retrieves the machete from her mother’s chest and systematically destroys Edward’s wardrobe, his mahogany desk, his pool table, and finally his prized signed Larry Bird jersey. The scene is visceral: Soledad describes “bringing the machete down on his mahogany desk” and later shattering the glass frame of the jersey. In the midst of the destruction, she cuts her hand on a shard of glass, leaving a permanent scar. Yet from the wreckage emerges a flash drive hidden in the jersey’s collar—evidence of Edward’s embezzlement. This drive becomes the key to Soledad’s financial survival and legal leverage. The machete thus serves dual roles: it is the instrument of Soledad’s cathartic release and the accidental tool that reveals the truth she needs to rebuild her life.
The Scar: A Permanent Reminder of a Turning Point
In Chapter Thirty-Eight, Soledad shows Judah the scar on her palm during a playful game of strip Uno. She explains that the scar “bisects my lifeline” and symbolically split her life into two parts: “from blind trust to eyes wide open.” The machete itself is not directly responsible for the cut—a piece of glass is—but it is part of the same destructive event. The scar becomes a permanent physical marker of the moment Soledad stopped being a passive victim. Later, when Judah jokingly asks if he should be concerned about her casually mentioning “my machete,” Soledad reassures him she won’t need it for his bad behavior, and he promises he won’t betray her. This exchange transforms the machete from a symbol of revenge into a symbol of the trust Soledad now demands in her new relationship. The scar, like the machete, becomes a touchstone for transformation—evidence that pain can lead to clarity.
Reclamation: The She Shed and the Me List
By Chapter Twenty-Four, Soledad has begun renovating Edward’s former “man cave”—the very shed where she once used the machete to destroy his pool table—into her own “she shed.” She livestreams the demolition, telling her audience, “I’m taking it over and reclaiming it.” The machete is not physically present in this scene, but its memory hangs over the space. Soledad mentions butchering the pool table with her machete as part of a “long story.” The shed renovation becomes an act of self-partnering and self-love, a physical manifestation of the emotional work Soledad has done. She adds the shed to her “Me List”—activities done solely for her own enjoyment. Where the machete once represented violent rupture, it now represents the rupture that allowed Soledad to start over. The tool that helped her tear down Edward’s world now indirectly helps her build her own.
Character and Theme Connections
Soledad Barnes
The machete is most intimately connected to Soledad’s journey. It is a tangible link to her mother, whose own experience with infidelity (her affair with Bray) shaped Soledad’s understanding of betrayal. When Soledad picks up the machete, she channels her mother’s fierce advice: “You accept a man shitting on you, he’ll make himself at home.” The machete gives Soledad permission to feel rage instead of shame. Later, the scar on her palm serves as a daily reminder that she survived the worst. The machete thus traces Soledad’s arc from wounded wife to empowered woman.
Judah Cross
Judah learns about the machete indirectly through Soledad’s confession about the scar. His response—a promise never to betray her—signals that he understands the gravity of what she went through. He does not flinch at her violence; instead, he sees it as part of her strength. The machete becomes a benchmark for trust: Judah must prove he will not become the kind of man who would drive Soledad to that point.
Themes
- Betrayal and Trust: The machete is the physical opposite of trust. It is born from betrayal and used to destroy the physical reminders of a broken marriage. Yet it eventually clears the way for a new, more honest relationship.
- Self-Partnering and Self-Love: Soledad’s reclamation of the shed—the same space she once destroyed—illustrates how self-love requires acknowledging and integrating even the most painful parts of the past.
- Motherhood and Family: The machete is a matrilineal heirloom. Soledad’s connection to her mother and grandmother runs through its blade. By using it, she honors their resilience and passes that legacy to her own daughters—though they never touch the weapon.
- Healing and Second Chances: The scar is a healed wound. The machete, once an engine of destruction, becomes part of Soledad’s origin story as a survivor. Healing does not mean erasing the past; it means allowing the past to shape a stronger future.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does the machete’s meaning change from the moment Soledad finds it in her mother’s chest to the moment she shows Judah her scar?
In the chest, the machete represents family heritage and the quiet strength of the women before her. During the destruction scene, it becomes a weapon of rage and a symbol of violent rupture. By the time Soledad shows Judah the scar, the machete has been reframed as a catalyst for liberation: it led to the discovery of the flash drive, which enabled her to take control of her financial and legal life. The scar itself, though not caused by the machete, is a permanent reminder that destruction can pave the way for rebirth.
2. Why does Soledad use the machete specifically, rather than another tool or simply leaving Edward?
The machete is both practical and symbolic. It is the only object in her mother’s chest that can physically break things—unlike the flag or the book. It also carries the weight of three generations of women who survived hardship. Using it channels her mother’s voice and gives Soledad a sense of agency when she feels powerless. Destroying Edward’s prized possessions is a ritualistic act of reclaiming her own space, made more potent by the heirloom’s history.
3. How does the machete connect to the theme of self-partnering and self-love?
The machete’s most destructive use occurs at Soledad’s lowest point—after learning she has an STI and that Edward betrayed her. Yet that very destruction clears the way for her to discover the evidence she needs. Later, when she renovates the shed, she explicitly links the machete to her “Me List” and her journey toward doing things solely for herself. The machete helps her break free from a marriage that defined her worth through domestic service. In that sense, it is a tool of self-partnering—a violent but necessary divorce from the person she was expected to be.
4. In what way does the machete influence Soledad’s relationship with Judah?
When Judah sees the scar and learns how she got it, he does not judge her. Instead, he promises never to give her a reason to use the machete again. That promise becomes a foundation of their relationship. The machete thus acts as a test: Judah must prove he is worthy of trust. It also levels the emotional playing field—Soledad has already survived the worst kind of betrayal, so Judah knows she will not tolerate less. The machete’s legacy, finally, is not about violence but about boundaries and self-respect.