In regards to Mercè Rodoreda’s The Time of the Doves (La plaça del Diamant, 1962), I found the novel to be exciting, and I was engaged with the text throughout the entire reading. The novel is set somewhat before the Spanish Civil war and leads into the battle itself as the story progresses. The story is about a girl named Natalia who works in a pastry shop and continuously gains complications throughout her life. The story, for me, seemed to be more of a tragedy than anything else. The fact that Natalia attempts to kill herself and her children with hydrochloric acid was shocking to me as I believe that a mother’s first instinct is to protect her children, not harm them in any way. Therefore that moment was surprising for me. The purpose of committing these deaths is for the primary pursuit of happiness in which “everyone would be happy,” if Natalia had passed away to a world in which she “wouldn’t have done any harm,” (Rodoreda, 146). I believe that the pursuit of happiness is essential, which is shown in the last line of the novel. One of the novel’s last words, “Happy,” confused me as I did not understand how the novel could end happily (Rodoreda, 201). The moments of Natalia killing unborn pigeons and death’s surroundings make the novel more tragic than happy. Therefore, there is somewhat of a polar difference, with the ending being “Happy,” and the story shifting between romantic and tragic (Rodoreda, 201). 

There is also that trauma seems to be a recurring aspect in the novel. As the novel has shifted in the plot towards the start of the Spanish Civil war and somewhat after that event, the notion of history and trauma seemed to be critical aspects in the novel. Such as when it is stated that with her new husband and when he says that with him during the war, the people had “picked him up half ripped apart on the battlefield and pieced him back together as best they could” (Rodoreda, 160). The moment that would occur to a soldier seems traumatizing, and I would like to believe that due to the similarities and differences between Natalia and her new husband, they had found some form of solace with each other. The theme of trauma affects decision-making for Natalia, and it seems as though many of the events in the novel are out of Natalia’s control, and she becomes collateral damage. Somewhat like a war in itself. It could be said that while the novel was set during the Spanish Civil war, there is also another war within Natalia’s life. The troubles with her first husband, her consideration of death, the somewhat tragic story of Natalia’s life, and the trauma that Natalia seemed to suffer through reflect some aspects of war in Natalia’s life. 

I would ask: do you believe that the story could be considered a tragedy? Or is it a case of a woman trying to control a situation that is out of her control? 

-Muskan Shukla