After reading “Time of the Doves” by Rodoreda I genuinely believe this book is the definition of suffering. In “Time of the Doves” we follow our protagonist Natalia as she goes through the Spanish Civil War and face major losses. This book had me feeling bad for Natalia through and through. I have never seen so much disparity in a novel’s protagonist, which at times brought me with my mouth wide open in shock. The part that ESPECIALLY made me feel for her is when she had to make the decision to kill herself and her children. That part really highlights how Natalia had nothing left for her and her kids… or so we thought.
Obviously the reason for all the suffering and misfortune is due to the war and Natalia’s husband, Quimet being on the losing side. I personally did not like Quimet, I thought he just added t0o Natalia’s suffering and that she was probably just better off with her ex (but obviously we wouldn’t have the story if she stayed with her ex). But besides my dislike for Quimet we can see how much Natalia suffers after his death. We see her having to sell everything she owns just to be able to afford the bare minimum food for her children. Even then there isn’t enough food in Barcelona, this is shown in the text as Natalia explains people resorting to eating grass or horse meat.
I feel like the important thing to highlight too is how much I see Quimet still being present through the “doves”. As much as we see Natalia make herself a new life with Antoni, I think it is very important to highlight how much Quimet’s absence haunts our main character. Even when all the doves are gone we see Natalia go to the park and be called “the dove woman”, placing her mere experiences with the very thing that bothered her most while Quimet was still alive. The relationship between Quimet and doves is also shown by Quimet’s death being paralleled by the last dove’s death. For me that very moment was what solidified Quimet’s death for me.
I think another very important aspect of this novel is the ending. I love how Jon highlighted that the last word in the novel being “happy…”, leaving interpretation for the reader when it comes to Natalia’s ending. At different points of the novel I felt like Natalia was finally happy but can Natalia really be happy after everything shes been through? There you go that’s my question for you: Can Natalia really be happy after everything she has been through?
Hi, Thanks for your sharing. I also don’t like Quitmet, I feel like Quimet has been trying to control Natalia, restrict her, and possess her instead of truly loving and caring for her. So I think their relationship is an unequal relationship, and I personally don’t like this kind of relationship.
Sorry, there’s a typo, Quimet*
I completely agree! Maybe Natalia could be a bird in that sense too. Like Quimet is keeping her trapped like the doves he keeps?
“But besides my dislike for Quimet we can see how much Natalia suffers after his death. We see her having to sell everything she owns just to be able to afford the bare minimum food for her children.” What is the impact of the Spanish Civil War on these plot events? How is it represented in the spaces where the novel takes place and how does it transform the relationships of the characters in a more specific way? We look forward to hearing your ideas!
I honestly wish I couldve written more on this and maybe I should have! I do not know much about the Spanish Civil war beyond what we have read but I do know that with any war there is going to be famine, disparity, mourning and other negative effects to ones quality of life and mental state. I think what made this book stand out to me was going through the motions of a war and how that affected Natalia. I think the scene I should bring up to answer your question is the seen at the church. We see Natalia follow a richer woman to a church as they both pass beggars and when they finally get to the church I vividly remember the sight of the priest murdered on the cross. I think this seen is so crucial to illustrating the chaos that is the Spanish Civil war, especially when it comes to class. The fact that Natalia, a woman who has literally nothing left due to the passing of her husband is described to follow this rich woman who has a lot of luxuries that majority of the population do not at the time. Another factor is the fact that Natalia marries Antoni out of disparity. If it weren’t for her marriage to Antoni then she wouldn’t have gotten the “happy” ending she did. Her children would not have been able to get the jobs they did. I feel like Quimet was a “taking” relationship, as in he only took and took from Natalia even indirectly, his political ideas took her job, his death took the last bit of comfort from her. Antoni on the other hand was a “giving” relationship. He gave her everything back after the war, he kept giving because that’s what made him happy. I hope this is somewhat cohesive haha, I genuinely just started writing. Hope this answers your questions!