Dove's Resiliency: The Time of Doves
Hello to everyone reading this blog, I hope you all enjoyed your reading week. This week's mandatory class reading of "The Time of Doves" by Mercè Rodoreda. The novel is set in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, spanning from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The main character and narrator of the story Natalia, or Colometa (colom is the Catalan for dove), is trying to support herself and her family. At the beginning of the novel, Colometa is a naive and innocent girl working as a seamstress. She is engaged to a man named Pere who works as a cook, that is until she meets and falls in love with Quimet, a "handsome" (19) and ambitious young man. Quimet is a carpenter who has layers to his character. He comes off as reckless, a bit of a tyrant, and controlling, which is first seen on page 22 “To be his wife [she] had to start by liking everything he liked”. This was the start of a relationship that was heavily controlled by Quimet. Throughout the relationship between Quimet and Natalia, Quimet only calls her "Colometa" which is a pet name, and to me, it comes off as controlling and a bit dehumanizing, as it shows his power over her, and establishes dominance, all of which contribute to the dehumanization of their marriage. Although this story takes place in a period where it was "normal" for men to dominate the relationship. Throughout the relationship, Natalia is the one who has to take care of her family and the doves even after she gets a job, yet Quimet doesn't help out.
While reading a couple of blogs, many think that Natalia is weak for staying with Quimet and taking the abuse, although I agree there are some positive traits that she shows in this abusive relationship. Despite all the hardships Natalia faces, her response to Quimet's abuse shows levels of resilience, endurance, and societal constraints. Natalia is strong in her dedication to her family duties and puts their well-being ahead of her own, even in the face of Quimet's rudeness and lack of support. Social norms and expectations surrounding gender roles and marriage in the years following the Spanish Civil War also had an impact on Natalia's ability to deal with Quimet's aggression. Given the social shame associated to divorce or separation in this era, Natalia would have felt under pressure to keep up the appearance of a stable marriage in a patriarchal culture where males frequently maintained authority over women.
Question:
Considering the societal norms and pressures Natalia faced in 'The Time of Doves,' do you believe her endurance of Quimet's abuse reflects weakness or strength?
Hi Alex. Thanks for your sharing. I feel Natalia didn't firmly resist because maybe she wasn't sure if her relationship with Quimet was abnormal or unequal. I think this is also related to her mother's death. Her mother passed away when she was very young, she didn't have anyone to give her proper advice about marriage. Moreover, when her mother was alive, there were often arguments between her mother and father, which might also be a reason why she became the weaker party in the marriage.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex, to answer your question, I feel like Natalia's endurance of Quimet's abuse reflects strength and resilience, where despite whatever challenge she faces she always does whatever it takes to protect her children.
ReplyDeleteGender relations are very present in the novel, and are prominent, of course. Are there other types of relationships, for example economic ones, that are intertwined with them? Could we expand the analysis to other spheres, such as politics?
ReplyDelete"Given the social shame associated with divorce or separation in this era, Natalia would have felt under pressure to keep up the appearance of a stable marriage in a patriarchal culture where men frequently maintained authority over women." Well, with Franco this was an impossibility, but by the end of the war Quimet had already died.