First Impression

This week’s reading was Times of the Doves by Rodereda. The first impression I had in this book was that Quimet was a walking red flag. A few pages in, Natalia or Colometa, as Quimet would call her, had just broken up with her fiance, Pere. Quimet just did not hesitate to ask her to marry him and just practically asked if she had broken up with him. This might not necessarily be the red flag itself, as this could also be part of a cultural component or perhaps the norm of the society in that period of time. However, what really made me dislike Quimet was how he treats Natalia and how controlling he seems as a partner. Because I have already disliked his character from the start, I did not even feel like I had any remorse or felt bad when he was having what seems to be long-term or enduring leg pain. 

One segment of the book where I had wished Natalia had seen it as an indication of a red flag was when Quimet was mad because apparently, he saw Pere and Natalia at the street together. This was obviously not the case, as according to the narrator, she has not spoken to Pere since they had broken up. It felt like he was gaslighting her and putting blame that she did something inexcusable. Even if hypothetically they were down the street together, they had already broken up, so what Quimet would have been complaining about demonstrates a projection of jealousy. Although this was towards the beginning of the book and the behavior could also be explained by an episode or issues he has deep down. Possibly this was a dream that felt real to him, however, this is not to excuse how he was mad and had this audacious claim he made but rather it is just another perspective to think about. 

Quimet is obviously a character I feel strongly negative about. His character feels like the embodiment of patriarchy or the yearning to be an dominant, authoritarian figure. This seems to be a common and emerging theme that has also pertained to other novels we have read such as Shrouded Woman.  One example of how Quimet would demonstrate his authoritarian figure is that he was straight forward with being the one to choose the name of their first baby boy, despite the suggestions of name from her father. 

My speculation and feelings towards Natalia as a character is that she feels obligated to be with Quimet. Notably, the book does not explicitly nor necessarily hint at this, but Natalia seems like a character who has not had the person to talk to when it comes to problems such as talking about Quimet. Natalia’s mother has died and she has primarily her father and step mother as parental figures, but it does not seem like she has ever had the guidance in terms of looking out for signs of people to not be around or befriend. The narrator even mentions that the mother has never spoken to her about men (p. 28), which could explain why she does not see Quimet as problematic and just accepted his vow to marriage, despite his obvious red flags. 

Question:

Do you think Natalia genuinely likes or even loves Quimet?