“I told him I was used to hard work.” This sentence on page 156 made me feel bad for Natalia. Throughout the book, Natalia is described as hardworking. Before her marriage, she worked at a pastry shop, but her salary was controlled by her father. The narrator describes how her father yelled at her when she asked for her own money and “finally” “said yes and he’d pay half the rent” with her money. The subject here makes it sound as though her father was paying the rent for her, but it was actually the money she had earned herself.
Quimet, on the other hand, is also manipulating her financial situation. Right before they got married, Quimet proposed the idea to “go fifty-fifty on the apartment” [38]. Even though this sounds equal, Natalia was not able to pay the money because of her father’s control at the beginning. Both Quimet and Natalia’s father represent patriarchal figures who exploit Natalia financially.
Quimet always wants to pursue this type of equality, which is ridiculous, to be honest. For some unknown reason, there is a worm inside Quimet’s stomach. When he finally vomited the entire worm, he claimed that Natalia and he were “even,” because she’d “had the kids and he’d had a worm fifteen yards long” [78]. How can he call this even? In another part of the book, Quimet shows disrespect regarding Natalia’s labor. He complains to other people about how she broke the bedpost [62].
Should I call this manipulation? I am hesitating because I don’t think Natalia’s father and Quimet manipulate her on purpose. They are doing what benefits themselves the most. The claim for evenness is also inconsiderate and selfish.
In the later part of the book, Quimet proposes raising some doves so that they can earn extra money. However, the entire task is assigned to Natalia. She has to bear the smell of the doves, paint the walls, and so on. Throughout the entire process, Quimet barely participates, just as he barely participates in raising their children. It is true that at the beginning, neither of them is good at raising a child. Natalia tries to feed her son orange juice, and Quimet leaves him in the cradle without comforting him at all when he is crying. But while Natalia is trying to make her son feel better (even though the method is completely wrong), Quimet is not attempting anything at all.
So the question I have for this week is: Is evenness important in marriage?
One reply on “Evenness?”
I agree with you, there is not no evenness for the roles that Natalia and Quimet represent. I think that, as you mentioned, the author is pointing it out when Quimet sarcastically compares a stomach worm with a baby.
We can discuss it on class.
See you tomorrow!
Julián.