The book follows the life of a working-class woman named Natalia against the backdrop of World War II. Her relationship with her husband is at the center of the book. The novel reflects the traditional gender roles of the time, where women were expected to be caregivers and homemakers. We can find that in this book, Natalia’s life completely revolves around playing the role of wife and mother in the family life.
Early in the novel, Natalia’s early life of love and romance is depicted; Natalia meets Quimet while working as a seamstress, and their courtship and early marriage is depicted with a sense of romance and hopefulness; Quimet is initially charming and attentive, and Natalia is both kind and gentle, and of course, probably a little bit of girlish naiveté. She wears a white dress that matches almost all fictional depictions of heroines, as if it also foreshadows romantic and innocent love. Rightfully so, Natalia is drawn to Quimet, seeing him not only as charismatic, but also as a way out of her predicament.
But married life didn’t last long. In page 44, we can find “I made it to the bedroom and he followed me in and threw me on the floor and pushed me under the bed with his feet and jumped on top of the bed. When I tried to get out he’d slap my head above. ‘Bad girl!’ he shouted. And no matter where I tried to get out, whack! his hand would hit my head. ‘Bad girl!’ From then on he played that joke a lot”. The author’s use of the highly ironic word joke shows how a woman is hurt but not worth it to her husband, which can be quickly carried away with just the word joke. Is this really a joke? Of course not, it is evidence of Quimet’s abuse of his wife and his violent tendencies; Quimet does not treat his wife as an individual human being, but rather with disdain and disrespect. At the same time, there are two occurrences of the “bad girl”, is Natalia really bad? Of course not. Then why does Quimet emphasize it twice? I think there are two reasons. First, it’s because he’s trying to make a decent excuse for abusing his wife. And second, I think it’s a reflection of his controlling nature. He wants to “tame” his wife to be a “good wife” in his eyes. I use the word “tame” here because I feel that he does not respect his wife as a person, but rather oppressively demands that she follow his thoughts and will completely. What a terrible thing to do! It’s also completely patriarchal.
My question is: do you think this book is feminist fiction?
Yiwen, it’s great that with this blog post you are getting a bit more to grips with the text, including at least one quotation! I’m very happy about that, and like what you have to say about that couple of sentences. But why do you think that Natalia used the word “joke” to describe this treatment of her?
One thing: the backdrop of this book is *not* World War II, but (as I say in the lecture, and as should be clear from the book itself) the Spanish Civil War.
I’m also not entirely sure that Natalia’s “relationship with her husband is at the center of the book.” For a start, her (first) husband leaves home about half-way through the book, and is killed two-thirds of the way through. What did you think of the second half of the novel?
Hi Yiwen! To answer your question, I think that the book was a feminist text as explores Natialia’s experiences and struggle in a patriarchal society.The book provides a personal look into Natalia’s inner life, showing her fight for independence and courage in the face of social pressure.the book addresses the larger issues of gender inequality and the barriers placed on women in a patriarchal culture via Natalia’s experiences.