Reflection - The Time Of The Doves by Mercè Rodoreda

 The Time Of The Doves was probably my favourite book we have read so far in this class. The book covers some dark topics and is not a particularly happy one and shows a resilient protagonist who is brought to her breaking point, who is then able to overcome it and have hope at the end of the novel.

At first, you start to feel bad for Natalia as her boyfriend Quimet doesn’t really care about her and is very manipulative, but then you remember that she kinda did leave her fiance for him. It was kinda obvious from one of their early encounters that Quimet isn’t a very considerate person, as Quimet was an hour late to the scheduled time and did not even apologize and said the most egregious line to her “if I wanted to be his wife I had to start by liking everything he liked” (22). Even after they get married Quimet always seems preoccupied with something else, like making the dovecote, raising the doves, and going out on adventures with his friends. There are several more incidents of Quimet gaslighting and being manipulative, but if I keep talking about everything bad he has done throughout the novel it would probably span a couple more pages.  It starts to get to the point where it is quite funny to think about how many bad traits he has and you start to question why Natalia even chooses him.  It might be from the fact that Natalia says that her mother had never told her about men and she is somehow ignorant about what a good person is or that her parent's relationship was not a particularly healthy one either and she does not know what a healthy relationship looks like yet. Or maybe perhaps that society at that time expected women to just get married no matter how unhappy they were and were expected to just endure through it for the rest of their lives. 

Life gets worse for Natalia as Quimet’s shop starts getting less work and she is forced to find a job, all while having to care for her two children. On top of this Quimet’s passion project now has invaded their home and there are just doves that live with them. She finally reaches her breaking point and starts trying to make sure the doves' chicks will never hatch by repeatedly shaking them.

As if life could not get any worse, a civil war commences, and Quimet goes to the front lines. Quimet sometimes returns from the front lines to their home for a bit before going back to fight, and Natalia is left wondering each time he leaves if he is ever going to come back. After she receives news that Quimet and Cintet have died in the war, it is hard not to feel her grief alongside her. Even though Quimet was not a very good person, it is still sad to see someone's life taken away, especially for reasons outside of their control and the fact that they are leaving a family behind. 

Things start to look up for Natalia and her family after finally getting a job that saves them from almost dying of starvation. Her boss an older man named Antoni eventually proposes to her and she accepts not really knowing why does. I was concerned that this second marriage would be a repeat of her first one, where she would be stuck and unhappy. However, it seems like Antoni loves their family and is a good person, after realizing this, Natalia seems happy at last after having gone through so much.

My Question for Everyone: 

When Natalia feels like there is no other option, she devises a plan to murder her children and then herself, but she is eventually given a job saving her family from starvation and her plan is no longer needed. Did the fact that tried to go through with this plan change your opinion of her? Or did you already have a negative opinion of her before this point?