Month: February 2022

My first impressions when starting this novel was that I was not going to enjoy it. I found myself often bored at the beginning until about midway through. I understood Natalia’s frustration when it came to the doves, as I felt that if dirty birds were flying around my house, I too would eventually be fed up with it. I didn’t quite understand, however, that it was mainly Natalia’s job to clean up after and feed the doves, when Quimet was the one bringing them home. I think it may be some sort of foreshadowing as to what happens later in the story when Quimet dies and leaves his children for Natalia to take care of. I also think that the doves may have some sort of connection to Natalia’s and Quimets children’s as Natalia had the same thought process about both, when it came down to trying times. As we saw with the doves, when Natalia was at her breaking point, she decided the best idea for her would be to damage the dove eggs, so they would not hatch. She had the same thought process with her kids in a sense, when she felt she was unable to take care of them, her best idea was to kill them. I understand these were very difficult times, and she thought they were bound to die anyway, but as we see later on, they ended up surviving and thriving after the war. I feel that Natalia almost gives up too easily with certain things. Personally, I would never be able to live knowing I killed my children, as you never know what may happen. If Natalia did kill her children, and then met Antoni who was able to provide for her, she would have had to live the rest of her life knowing that they may have lived. Although, I can almost understand her thought process as well. The kids were living in less than ideal situations, so I understand how Natalia wouldn’t want them to continue in their suffering. I think this book personally brought a lot of aspects of war into perspective to me. My naive thoughts surrounding war could never imagine how someone would ever think to kill their children, but I can understand now how when in desperate times, someone could see how that would be the best way to escape. 

Do you think if you were Natalia, the thought of killing your children would have crossed your mind?

The original description of Bonjour Tristesse really captured my attention towards the book. I felt that I would be able to resonate with the main character, assuming she is around my age and the problems she faces throughout the book. And as much as I could relate to Cecile, the plot went in a different way from what I originally expected. I think that because I had a preconceived notion as to what the book was about, my expectations were not met and therefore I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I would have liked to. Besides that I felt like I could relate to some of the problems Cecile was facing throughout the book. Specifically, the issue she faced in accepting her father’s relationship with Anne. As I have a step parent as well, I resonated with how Cecile felt in accepting the decreased amount of attention she would receive from her father when his relationship with Anne started. I also had a tough time in accepting that my mom would be less attentive towards me, as she grew her relationship with her new boyfriend, as I was used to receiving her full attention for many years. Although, I feel that Cecile had a harder time because of the control Anne felt like she had over her, which was something I didn’t have to deal with. Anne’s superiority in controlling Cecile angered me because personally I feel that in certain situations, step-parents do not get to control a child that is not their own. Sure they can put in their opinions if asked, but full control is something I don’t necessarily agree with. I understand that Anne was looking out for Cecile’s best interest but I felt it was taken overboard, and Cecile needed to learn some of those lessons on her own- she needed more freedom to explore. With Anne always making the decisions for her, Cecile was not able to go off and explore other options that may suit her better than what Anne had originally thought. Anne’s control over Cecile and Cyril’s relationship bothered me as she had just broken up a relationship between Raymond and Elsa herself, so why does she feel that she is entitled to give her opinion to Cecile. 

My questions I have regarding this text are:

How would you feel if Anne was your stepmother and acted the way she did towards you? Would you go along with what she had to say in respect to her or speak up for yourself?