Hi everyone,
This week we all read Time of the Doves written by Mercè Rodoreda. I quite liked this novel even though I found it difficult to start, it discusses important themes about war, love, gender, life and family. I would like to discuss the main character, Natalia and her growth.
In the beginning of the novel, Natalia starts off as a young woman who does not have much control over her own life, and whose life trajectory is determined by whoever would ask to marry her. However, once she was married she didn’t seem to love her husband, and he used to father his children. At this moment in time, she accepted her fate and did not complain even though she knew it was wrong. Her husband’s abusive acts and the way she was treated by others around her meant that she was consistently used and objectified for the benefit of others like when she became responsible for the doves.
In the middle of the novel, her demeanor completely changes. Her focus becomes the children she never actually wanted. She swallows her pride, makes intense sacrifices, tries to find work and hustles to provide for her children. However, she is ultimately unsuccessful and even debates killing herself and her children as an act of mercy because they were miserable and I think she really did love them. Her actions and sacrifices in which she develops her character and becomes more autonomous demonstrate the consequences of war, outside of death itself. She proves that war really changes people, that conflict has profound effects on both her personality and actions that seemed virtually impossible. Ultimately, instead of simply being a wife after her husband’s death she becomes an independent mother who prioritizes her children and herself. I think that her husband’s death was transformative in this sense as it presented her with an opportunity to increase personal autonomy.
At the end of the novel, she begins to revert back to her previous patterns of becoming dependent on men. Unlike her previous relationship with Quiment, this marriage provides her with a sense of safety and autonomy. This marriage is thought of strategically (like Quiment), with her kids in mind. He marries him, because he is safe and will be a good father figure to her children, and he desires a family of his own. At her daughter Rita’s wedding, that seems slightly concerning because of her age the reader sees Natalia as truly happy, dancing with her son, in a happy marriage knowing that her daughter is loved as well. This idea is further exemplified when she is referred to as Senora Natalia, it becomes clear that she has matured, learnt many things and become an independent woman who others may look up to.
Discussion Question: What are some moments in the novel that are important to Natalia’s character development? Why?
Thanks!
It’s true, Natalia changes but so do her children, for example. Rita is gaining space in the novel and her relationship with Vicenc describes another way of relating in a loving way. Other questions may arise here: how is Rita and Vicenc’s relationship different from Natalia and Quimet’s? How would you compare them?
Hi, I think probably her moments of outbursts were the most shaking to her life as she knows it. Wether it was through her verbal screams during child birth or at the city square or shaking the doves eggs. I think these instances changed the way she existed passively
It’s actually insane, like you said she dedicates everything to the children she didn’t even want to have. The result of that attempt is almost incredibly morbid. I think it shows that despite society telling her (at the time the importance placed on being a mother and caring for your children) to have children even if she doesn’t want to, her own wants and needs prevailed. She could be pressured as much as she was to be a “good” mother, but in the end the social pressures around her are not going to be enough. I find this lesson to be important for people of our generation as well. We need to focus less on what others want from us, and more on what we think is good, important, and in line with our values. Because in reality it is our own wants and motivations which are going to be the long-term driving force for what we choose to do, not the momentary social pressures which are constantly changing, and coming from the external.
I think a huge moment that stood out to me was the shaking of the bird eggs and the killing of the birds. Natalia had been so reserved and internal that this reality must have come as a large shift in her character for everyone else in her life. I think the externalization in this moment sets off a string of internal feelings that start to manifest in the real world later in the book
Hi!
I think probably the a moment of character development that stood out to me is when she screams at the end of the novel. She finally lets go of all the pain she’s been holding on to and is finally able to say she is okay afterwards. It also allows her to realize that she’s never thanked Antoni for what he did, so I think its a moment that allowed her to grow and accept.