Month: February 2026

Categories
Rodoreda The time of the doves

Little Dove? Nah, She a Warrior

The Time of the Doves, reading about war here felt different in comparison to what I expected or usually read. Instead of focusing on the big picture like the battle scenes or larger consequences of the war, it focuses on the tiny details of everyday life that people usually seem to skip past –  loss, hunger, instability and more and it’s vividly shown such that Natalia describes the starvation her and her children faced: “ I had two mouths to feed and nothing to put in them” (p.134). Rodoreda portrays how war invades daily living spaces, making its impact feel even worse. 

Natalia’s narration provides a sense of intimacy, yet there is also a barrier I feel between her and the reader, at least that’s how I felt. In a way, this distance portrays how women’s voices are internally powerful yet socially silenced – she reflects saying at one point, “and i felt a lump in my throat. Because as soon as I’d said yes I’d started feeling like I should have said no. (p. 166)” only further emphasizing internal hesitation and how her feelings are suppressed. Further, the simplicity of the narration made it easier to read despite the repetitiveness. The repetitiveness felt intentional, which again feels like a metaphorical representation of Natalia’s internal world and the nature of her suffering. 

Witnessing this idea of Quimet renaming her to Colometa rubbed me the wrong way, I’m not going to lie (where did the audacity come from???). Especially reading this part where HE decides that she could have only one name, like excuse me? Natalia said “I said my name was Natalia, he kept laughing and said I could have only one name: Colometa.” (p.18). In my opinion, someone’s name is tied to their identity and background and provides a sense of individuality. Renaming Natalia to a name that means ‘little dove’ only screams control and authority. It symbolically represents reshaping her identity, belittling her, and controlling her. In addition, the pigeons, which she said made her feel “ smothered”, also act as a huge metaphoric representation of Natalia herself, trapped and confined to that life and the suffocation the marriage causes her. 

On the other hand, one thing I did love reading is how Natalia transforms throughout. She goes from this oppressed wife to a tough survivor, rebuilding her life after all the suffering. Her growth and change show that identity is not only curated by the relationships we have but also the trauma and experiences we go through. At the end, the fact that she was no longer just “Colometa” gave me SO much happiness, as it showed this beginning of reclaiming herself, her identity, and her name.

 

Best,

Tripti

Categories
Arguedas

Feeling before Understanding

You know those books where the writer throws logic out the window and invites the reader to live in the character’s inner world. Deep Rivers is one of those. It feels as if Ernesto’s inner dialogue is being read aloud to us. A mix of memories, emotions, and observations with a touch of melancholy. 

Arguedas invites the reader to experience emotionally rather than logically. None of the emotions, like sadness, fear, or wonder, is explained but rather made to feel and get immersed in. It creates a sense of heaviness and quiet intensity, even when nothing ‘dramatic’ is happening. We feel Ernesto’s unsettledness, confusion, and loneliness through his perceptions alone. Each little part that possibly stood out as ordinary objects and environments was given so much significance. From stones to walls to rivers, they weren’t just physical elements as we know them to be, but symbolic ones, ones that had meaning. 

This consistent feeling of displacement is present throughout the novel. We feel unsettled as Ernesto does, not comfortable anywhere, reflecting the identity struggle and belonging Ernesto experienced. While this displacement is present, some moments reflect a breath of fresh air (the glimpses of nature), which slows the pace and heaviness. However, even during these calm moments, there is uneasiness and underlying tension that conveys suffering never truly goes away but is always present under the surface. 

On that note, this sense of identity struggle Ernesto felt was something very relatable. Through Ernesto, it is technically argued that living between cultures is hard but very human. Quite honestly, this makes some of us readers who are torn between cultures feel validated. This sense of feeling like an ‘outsider’ is rather comforting than isolating. Further, his intense reactions to injustice portray how having awareness can be painful, especially in a society filled with inequality, and as an ‘outsider’ we have definitely heard of, if not experienced, this exactly. 

What I found unique was that Deep Rivers does not really offer a solution, clarity, or closure. It actually asked us as readers to witness injustice, sit with that discomfort, and feel the emotions deeply. It seemed as if Arguedas also wanted to emphasize that understanding cultural divisions is only possible through feeling them rather than explaining them. All in all, it suggests how deeply one’s identity is rooted in cultures, languages, and the environments we grow up in. 

The question I want to discuss, or perhaps I wonder more about, is: Did you ever find yourself feeling confused or disoriented while reading this? If so, how does that confusion reflect Ernesto’s emotional state?

 

 

 

Categories
Laforet Nada Narration

Expectations vs. Reality

Hi again!

One of the elements that stood out to me the most in Nada was its irony, which is seen from the title itself. Nada, which means ‘nothing’, truly captures the space between the expectations Andrea came to Barcelona with and the reality she lived, learning that what she envisioned was nothing like it. She moves with hopes of this new life, in fact, a better one, only to receive poverty and oppression from her own. The irony here is that what’s meant to be a new journey filled with growth is instead filled with disappointment and frustration. The title largely reflects the emptiness inside of her due to the disappointment of unmet expectations, and I find that to be a very unique and fascinating choice. 

There is also irony that stems from my perspective as a reader. In today’s age, where many of us are encouraged to have new experiences, and as an individual who feels like new experiences are always about growth or learning, Andrea’s experience in Barcelona, which was supposed to expand her life, instead took away from it. So instead of growing, she left feeling empty, and that to me is very ironic as a reader today. 

As a reader, even though the novel is named Nada, which portrays Andrea’s inner feelings, it doesn’t mean that the novel feels like nothing to the reader. In fact, I think the abcscene is meant to be there, making the reading experience feel emotionally draining, to feel what Andrea is feeling, the discomfort and oppression. 

This novel also made me think about the effect of the Spanish Civil War on people. If this was the result, what are we made to think about the consequences of this war then? The novel shows us that the war’s damage was not only economic but also perhaps psychological and interpersonal. The cruelty and oppression portrayed by family members, forming this toxic environment at home, with each person’s trauma, sounds like a crisis that led to a dysfunctional family and environment. It shows how the war has ruined not just places but humanity as well, with no sense of empathy or warmth towards one another, ‘nada’. 

Lastly, a thought I had reading this was how Andrea’s experience strongly resembles many of the mindsets and stories I hear of immigrants who leave their home seeking a new life. Similar to Andrea, many come with these high expectations, but instead they are met with struggles, isolation, financial strain and emotional loneliness. Nada shows the irony of these narratives of moving to another place for a better life. Here, Andrea’s location does not give her freedom, it captures her in this restriction and emptiness, making the novel somewhat relevant to today’s time and people despite being written so long ago.

At the end of it, Andrea girl I’m so glad she got out of there. However, this leads me to think about how others in a similar situation. Was the impact similar on them? How does one get out of a situation like this? Is escape the only option?

 

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