To begin, the novel “The Time of the Doves” by Merce Rodoreda was a roller coaster of emotions as it had immense imagery and thought-provoking concepts. The novel is quite dark and heart-wrenching as there are very few happy moments and quite a lot of sad and hard ones. Throughout the semester we have read novels that have had difficult moments and similar ideas but there were moments in which one could find some sort of happiness. This was not the case in this novel thus, I found it to be a more emotionally challenging read. However, I enjoyed the humane aspect of this novel as it depicted the life of women during war and raising children in times of hardship very well. 

With that, this novel is written in first person narration and tells the story of a woman named Natalia’s life during the time of war very explicitly. Natalia encounters many circumstances in the war and figures out ways to navigate through life as well as raising her children, maintaining a marriage, and working. Throughout the novel, we learn that Natalia is a very hard-working woman and does not stop working until she no longer can. Natalia was raising her children on her own without the support of others such as a good father figure. This emphasis on hard work and continuing with day-to-day life portrayed how ordinary people lived their lives away during the war. Also, the story shows the challenges that a naive woman may face in her lifetime. One can observe that Natalia is a naive woman who has a troubling time saying no to people and does things as they command. We can see this happen with her marriage as she follows her husband Quimet’s requests often as he is abusive and controlling. I did not enjoy reading the parts Quimet was in as just seemed so helpless and self-centered. This made me sympathize with Natalia a bit more as she was almost alone on her journey despite being married. 

Furthermore, one part of the novel that provoked strong emotion was when Natalia got to the point of ending it all. Her family was starving and she could no longer bear the pain of this life she was living so she decided to end her life along with her two children’s lives. This part of the novel is quite dark and sad as it showcases that sometimes people get into a very dim place in life. People are constantly fighting mental health battles and they try to push through them but eventually, there comes a time when all hope is lost. Therefore, this novel was not an easy read but was written very well and sends an insightful message. 

Discussion question:

Were you able to find any happy moments in the novel that made you smile and if so what were they?