Tag Archives: family

Week 7- Rodoreda’s “The Time of the Doves”

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This is the first novel that I have a physical copy of and the feeling of holding a book and flipping through the pages was so different compared to scrolling through the pages on a computer, so I was looking forward to reading this novel. This week I chose to read The Time of the Doves. This novel takes place during the Spanish Civil War and it shows how the main character, Natalia, had to struggle throughout this challenging time. 

“I had two mouths to feed and nothing to put in them.” (134) was such a heartbreaking line to read, it must be one of every parent’s worst nightmares, to not be able to provide for their children. Along with Natalia having to place her son into a camp “for refugee children” (139) so he wouldn’t starve despite her own desire of wishing she didn’t have to leave him. But her desire for Antoni to have his basic needs fulfilled was stronger. Even when he was begging her “not to leave him” (136), she “had to harden [her] heart and push him away” (136) for his own sake. It must have been difficult for Natalia to not give in to her son who was crying and begging to stay with her, but she had to be the level-headed person. Her son was still a child, young, and naive, unaware of the necessary but difficult decisions that must be made for the sake of his health. However, Natalia who is an adult, a mother, doesn’t get the choice to be ignorant. She must be the one to not be blinded by her or his emotions, and make the logical decision. I can’t imagine how that must feel, especially when she looked back at him and Antoni had “stopped crying… his face was like an old man’s” (137). It was like within these few minutes, where Natalia had to run out with her daughter, Antoni suddenly stopped being a child. It was almost like he had grown within those few minutes, and he’s no longer young and naive anymore, as he came out of the camp as a “different boy” (139). 

I was extremely shocked when one night when Natalia was lying with Antoni and Rita, she “decided to kill them” (145) and then herself due to being in poverty after her husband, Quimet had passed away in the war. Especially with her belief that “no one loved them” (146), which is once again, another heartbreaking line. However, thankfully a grocer, who ironically had the same name as her son, had saved her and her children by giving her a job and was also a man she ended up marrying. Eventually Natalia “returned to life… [her] children stopped looking like skeletons” (158).

A question I have for my classmates is, were you surprised when Natalia had a plan to kill her own children and herself? Did you think her plan was too extreme or did it make sense due to her challenging situation? What would you have chosen to do?

Week 6- Sagan’s “Bonjour Tristesse”

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This week I chose to read Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan, which was a novel about the relationship between a daughter and her father, Raymond, along with Anne, who is a woman he plans to marry. 

Firstly, I found it was quite odd that Cécile “knew his need of a woman” (6) and “his fancy changed every six months” (6). I also felt quite bad for Cécile to have to know this playboy side of her father. As it may be difficult for her to see Raymond with so many women, and it seems to also negatively contribute to her perspective on relationships as she found the “conception of quick, tempestuous and passing love affairs… enticing.” (11). Thus, this may have been part of the reason that led Cécile to manipulate and use Cyril, who truly loved her. As she didn’t seem to know what a healthy relationship seemed like since she “knew little of love” (11) and had mainly witnessed her father’s quick relationships with mistresses. Raymond also doesn’t seem to consider how his relationships with mistresses would affect Cécile and he didn’t seem to be discreet about them either. He doesn’t seem to care about her and was more focused on his own life with his mistresses. 

Initially, I felt bad for Cécile due to her mother’s passing and her father’s actions and behaviors with other women, along with his inability to actually be a father. However, my sympathy started to fade away when she came up with a plan to break up Raymond and Anne’s relationship and use Cyril’s feelings for her as a part of the plan. 

Raymond’s lack of proper parenting ultimately led to Cécile having freedom to do whatever she pleases, which definitely led her to being spoiled. She didn’t mind too much of having Elsa with them since she knew Elsa’s presence wouldn’t effect her. However, Anne is seen as a threat to Cécile due to trying to take on a motherly figure to her and throwing some control into Cécile’s life. Despite the fact that there were some actions Anne did that seemed to cross the line, such as making the comment regarding Cécile’s weight and even slapping her. Which definitely didn’t help decrease Cécile’s hatred of her. Cécile was willing to do anything to keep the freedom lifestyle she had and she didn’t seem to care about anyone else. 

My question for my classmates is if Raymond had tried to slowly introduce Anne and the idea of marrying her to Cécile, would she still have developed a hatred towards Anne and planned to break them up?

Week 4- Bombal’s “The Shrouded Woman”

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I found The Shrouded Woman to be an easier read compared to Paris Peasant and Combray. The writing was descriptive but not overflowing with a lot of vivid details. The scenes also didn’t feel like they suddenly changed without a reason either. It is also my favorite novel so far, though I do wish I could’ve read this as a physical copy rather than on the computer. Nevertheless, I found it interesting that this novel was regarding Ana-Maria, who is a dead narrator as she talks about the people who have had a significant influence on her life. Although, it feels more unfortunate that Ana-Maria reflects more on the men in her life rather than her children or parents. 

Ana-Maria reflects on Ricardo, her first love when she was a teenager who had to move to Europe to “study scientific farming” (165). Ana-Maria asked Ricardo to marry her and take her with him, however, he refused as he doesn’t seem to think that being married to Ana-Maria would be beneficial to both his career and future. Ricardo’s rejection and departure broke Ana-Maria’s heart, as she cries to Zoila that he doesn’t love her anymore. However, ironically as Ricardo visits Ana-Maria on her deathbed, she “understands that this man had never remained entirely apart from her” (176). This is quite devastating, as she finally realizes Ricardo did- and still does love her on her deathbed. Thus, causes her to wonder “must we die in order to know?” (176), which is truly a philosophical yet heartbreaking question. I think in most situations, perhaps yes, since pride, ego, and fear of vulnerability often restrains people from being honest about their feelings. It would be interesting if we had Ricardo’s perspective on his relationship with Ana-Maria, and what his thoughts and emotions were when he visited her on her deathbed.

When Ana-Maria’s brother, Luis, visits her, I found this line to be quite powerful, “I remember there was a time when we loved each other very much; … a time you had forgotten but which my death reawakened in you” (180). It’s unfortunate that she was separated from him due to an outsider when they were once so close to each other. It’s quite tragic how sometimes people come to a realization of how much they love one another when it’s too late. Luis seeing Ana-Maria on her deathbed seemed to make him realize how much he once loved his sister, in a similar way to how Ana-Maria realizes how much Ricardo still loves her after all these years. Even though it’s not the same type of love, as one is a family type of love and the other is a romantic type, it’s still love that was realized after her passing.

A question I have for my classmates is why does Ana-Maria’s reflection focus more on the romantic relationships rather than her family, friends, and children? What could this also imply about our society today?

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