The Time of the Doves by Rodoreda: Persistent Struggle

The Time of the Doves opens with a prelude quote by George Meredith: "My dear, these things are life". Looking back, this quote beautifully summarizes Natalia's extremely painful story. Throughout the novel, we follow Natalia as she encounters struggle after struggle - a broken marriage, tireless war, extreme poverty, and exhaustive suffering. 

I've been reflecting on how the doves in this story serve as a symbolic representation of Natalia's life. Doves are traditionally recognized as symbols of peace, yet this story is far from peaceful. As a result, I think that Natalia's relationship to the doves, characterized by resentment, represents fact that she stands at odds with peace in this story. She is constantly trying to pick up the pieces of her broken life, just as she is constantly responsible for cleaning up after the doves. Overall, I believe that Natalia's relationship to the doves symbolizes her life: messy, chaotic, and filled with frustration. Eventually, her killing the doves represents a sort of breakdown and seizure of agency. Through this action, she gains more self control - though this does not translate into actually gaining peace.

When the Spanish Civil War starts, things get unimaginably worse. Quimet leaves, which kind of felt relieving since he was an annoying and shallow figure. Unfortunately, bigger problems arise. Natalia falls into extreme poverty, struggling to feed her children. Shockingly, she contemplates ending her and her children's lives through the consumption of acid. This part of the book truly felt like humanity at rock bottom. It shows that when worst comes to worst, people can abandon their moral compasses and desperately resort to doing anything to alleviate suffering. Overall, Natalia’s immense hardship during the war offers insight into the civilian experience of war: one in which innocent people suffer, off the battlefield.

I think that perhaps one of the only positive aspects that can be traced in this book is Natalia's resilience. She constantly moves between jobs to stay financially afloat, and she sends her child to a camp when she knows she can no longer ensure his survival. Problem after problem was thrown at her, yet she continued to make (morally questionable) decisions in an attempt to keep moving forward.

Finally, one thing I truly enjoyed about this book was the very human-like narration style. Rodoreda's writing wasn't hard to follow. It was heavy and emotional, yet digestible and quite straightforward. 

A question for my peers: What was your interpretation of the doves with regards to the broader context of the novel?

I think the photo below connects with The Time of the Doves because it shows a dispirited woman (like Natalia), gazing out at doves (symbols of peace), but not truly looking at them, as if peace is something out of reach.