The Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda : Pain & Suffering, but real

 The Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda is such an interesting read and is honestly one of my fav reads so far throughout this course! The book centres around Natalia’s hardships of poverty and despair. This is evident through the quote in the prelude by George Meredith, “My dear, these things are life.” This exemplifies how life can be hard and messy. Honestly, this book felt real to me. Recently, I’ve been going through a lot of hardships in my life with family and friends. It made me feel that I could relate to Natalia’s hardships because there are always going to be ups and downs in life. Doves are often connoted with peace and grace. I think Rodoreda utilizes the imagery of the doves to be juxtaposed with the hardships within Natalia’s life. I think the story also gave me a clearer understanding about the struggles of war during the Spanish Civil War as a woman. Quimet and Natalia’s relationship was interesting to read. I thought Quimet was honestly a red flag because of the questionable instances throughout the story such as he was emotionless towards Natalia after they got married. It made me think about how women were shackled in relationships with people who pretended “to be nice”, but eventually made her feel alone and she had to provide for their children. However, when Natalia’s second husband, Antonio proposed to her it was like she was trying to regain the reins of her life. Quimet never called Natalia her own name and this caused him to diminish her value as an individual. This made me think about how her relationship with Quimet never gave her a sense of self-fulfilment and rather made it harder for her to survive. Her relationship with Quimet can be contrasted with her relationship with Antonio. This is evident through the nickname “colometa” that Quimet called Natalia which highlights the unsettling nature that Quimet added to her life. 


I love how the author highlights that when you go through hardships in life, sometimes you hit rock bottom and you have to make decisions that are hard. I found it really sad that she decided to kill her children and end their suffering from starvation. I was honestly so heartbroken for her because the pain and distrust of things getting better lead her to having to make that decision. It must’ve been so painful to have to make that decision as a mother. This story was so sad, but it was raw and real. It wasn’t like the k-dramas that I usually watch that promote a fake sense of happily-ever-after. Life is hard and real. 


Question : Do you think that Natalia could have made a different choice for her life?


Comments

  1. Daniel OrizagaFebruary 23, 2026 at 12:12 AM

    "This story was so sad, but it was raw and real. It wasn’t like the k-dramas that I usually watch that promote a fake sense of happily-ever-after. Life is hard and real." But even if it's not a definitive "happily ever after" ending, there's hope and a sign that something has changed for the better, don't you think?

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