The Time Of The Doves by Mercè Rodoreda

The time of the doves is the read for week 7 and I have a lot of things to share with you guys! Definitely my favorite read of this course so far. Initially, reading it, I felt more irritated than anything while reading the first part of the novel. Natalie abandoning her fiance, Pere, for a walking "black" flag, Quimet felt so wrong to me. How Quimet even treated her when they first met was so questionable to me, asking her if she had broken up with Pere and also how quick he proposed to her and wanted to introduce Natalie to his family. Maybe on that time period it was the societal norm for a marriage to happen that quick, but, it just didn't sit right with me especially because of Quimet's behaviour. After their marriage, there was a moment when Quimet mistakenly believed he saw Natalia meeting Pere on the street. He confronted Natalia aggressively, accusing her of wrongdoing and demanding an apology vehemently. He was just very controlling and restrictive as a partner which was a reason I think why he wanted to marry Natalie as she was very obedient and could tolerate how he acted towards her.


I didn't really feel any pity or sadness for Quimet when he had severe leg-pain or even when he passed away during the war as I already have disliked his character in the beginning of the book. However, my impression of the book changed when the civil war started. Whom I sympathized was for Natalie, when the war started, Quimet got sent away and even though he was already an absent father, him entirely disappearing must have been difficult for Natalie to bear. In addition, Antoni was sent to a refugee camp for children and just like that, the two men she was most connected to disappeared from her life. It was more depressing as she had to do whatever she could just to get food for her and Rita. Selling all her belongings just to purchase horse meat from the supermarkets was very disheartening to read. Even when Natalie was given Quimet's watch showing that he died in action, she was still clinging to this hope that he was still alive. It was hard for me to see her grief this much.


Discussion Question: What do you think an ideal relationship should look like?

Comments

  1. Jon Beasley-MurrayFebruary 27, 2024 at 3:33 PM

    Andrew, thanks for this, but it's just a touch short... perhaps you could expand on, say, Natalia's life after Quimet dies? How about her relationship with Antoni, the grocer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. MarcusFebruary 29, 2024 at 6:57 PM

    Hi Andrew, I also agree that it was sad to see her still cling on to to hope that Quimet was alive, but maybe she accepted it by the end of the novel after meeting Antoni and finally letting go of her past.

    ReplyDelete

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