Why is it that older generations have stories of meeting their partners in the creepiest ways? When my grandmother met my grandfather, she said she hated him at first because he would follow her around her university campus and try to get on the same work schedule as her just to talk to her. Romance or stalker vibes? Quimet running after Natalia reminded me of my grandparents. “… years later he’d still talk about [the day we first met]…” and the first day they met was Quimet pursuing Natalia to the point of her RUNNING FROM HIM and not looking both ways before crossing the street so she almost got hit by a car (pg. 19). She was running away from him, and told him she was engaged. Yet he still ran after her. Scary instead of romantic. Right at the start, I did NOT like Quimet.
Another thing I didn’t like was how Quimet said if Natalia wanted to be his wife she had to start by liking everything he liked (pg. 22). He didn’t like blackbirds, so she couldn’t like blackbirds. Perhaps this is why he calls her Colometa; his little dove, as doves tend to be white. His obsession with birds may be foreshadowing his abuse and narcissism since he likes to control things, including Natalia, basically treating her like an object and something to capture and control. Additionally, Natalia felt bad about leaving Pere: “when I thought about leaving Pere it hurt me inside and the hurt made me realize I’d done something wrong” (pg. 21.). It seems as though Pere was good for her, yet she wanted more.
I like how Rodoreda is purposeful with her character creation. Since I disliked a character so quick, and had such a powerful emotion of anger, she’s doing something right. If I liked all the characters, it would likely be a boring read. I feel anger toward Natalia too for choosing Quimet, but Rodoreda’s demonstration of a woman in domestic violence is important. With power imbalance centring their relationship, Quimet and Natalia have different levels of control. Quimet has control over himself and Natalia while Natalia doesn’t have any control. The threat of harm and poverty lies over her head. In a situation like that, she has little to no choice but to stay in order to avoid harm. This is why support for domestic violence victims is so important: chances to escape someone they love who hurts them is dangerous and difficult.
I found it puzzling why Quimet kept saying “poor Maria” (pg. 22 – 121). Was she an ex? Was she a metaphor for the harmed Natalia? Cintet, Quimet’s closest friend, told Natalia that he was sure Quimet never knew a woman named Maria (pg 121). This makes it seem as though Maria was a codename – for what, I’m still not sure. Maria is mentioned one last time on page 121. As such, my question is: who is Maria?
Sarah