In The Time of Doves, Rodoreda tells a story of Natalia’s life entirely from her own perspective, and also reflects how the Spanish society was back in the time. This novel didn’t dramatize the confusion and suffering in life, but simply described the facts. I think that’s why this novel makes us feel moved.
People always say, a small detail of a man could show a huge red flag. In this novel, how Quimet changes Natalia’s name into Colometa is such a big red flag. Quimet is the kind of person who never views other people as having the same status as himself; he views them as tools, as objects. He renamed Natalia very early in their relationship, which seems like he is tagging this woman, this “thing” into his, just like tagging someone’s luggage. Moreover, he never respects what Natalia thinks. Natalia wants her name back, but he just laughs and insists that she can only have one name: “little dove”, Colometa.
In some literature I’ve been reading recently, there are authors who romanticise the act of a male being really possessive in a relationship. Just like Quimet, these male characters never listen to the female character, touch her, define her, lock her up, or force her to stay with them in the name of love. It seems that everything a male has done, even violent acts, can be rationalized after being called by love. As a form of literature, I don’t deny that such content has its own audience. However, it should also be undeniable that this constitutes a lack of respect for another person’s subjectivity and amounts to the objectification of human beings. The reason I like The Time of Doves is that it didn’t romanticize this kind of possessiveness. Quimet is not presented as “a man who doesn’t know how to love, but loves her too much so it’s reasonable for him to do such things”. Instead, the novel shows how Natalia’s life has been manipulated and changed because of his control. After being with him, Natalia isn’t happy; she is forced to leave Pere, forced into marriage, takes care of the doves just because Quimet loves doves, and so on. Even after Quimet died in the war and Natalia met Antoni, when Natalia later walks through Plaça del Diamant, the place where everything began, memories flood back. The square becomes a reminder that the past cannot be fully erased.
Discussion question: The act of Quimet renaming Natalia makes me think of the cultural tradition of women taking their husband’s surname after marriage. Is there a meaningful difference between Quimet’s act and changing surname, or do both raise similar questions about identity within marriage?