Mercè Rodoreda，The Time of the Doves——WEEK7

 While reading the first part of this book, I was often confused and puzzled by the relationship between Quimet and Natalia because Natalia and Quimet didn't seem happy and happy in their life together. Quimet doesn't seem to care much about the heroine's feelings, nor does he know how to respect the heroine. He would call her "Poor Maria," although he never explained to the hesitant Natalia who she was; his unfounded suspicion hurts Natalia; he wants the hostess to quit her favourite bakery job because of his doubts. When I read this part, I was puzzled about why the heroine abandoned her honest fiancé and chose to marry such a new acquaintance and was often angry with Quimet's behaviour. In my opinion, the heroine makes choices too fast.

But then I realized that this might be because of the background of the heroine's era, family background, and the people's attitude. When Natalia needed someone to marry, and everyone around her recommended Quimet, as a beautiful girl who lost her mother and her father remarried, it was difficult to resist the opinions of those around her with a firm attitude. In the process of marriage and relationship, it can be seen that Natalia will also regret and be bewildered by such a choice. She will doubt whether she chooses Quimet is correct and whether this kind of life is what she wants. But even with some hesitation, she had no choice, so she accepted this continuation of life, and as a typical image of a woman at that time, she continued her daily life as her husband's state and mood changed. After the female protagonist gave birth, pigeons entered their lives. The arrival of the pigeons seems to make the atmosphere in the house smooth and lively. Natalia and her husband will name each pigeon, build the loft together, and enjoy the pigeons flying over the roof. At this time, their relationship seems to become warm Peaceful. But it didn't last long.

Natalia's image in the first part is naive and peaceful, similar to the article's tone, without any thrilling big event or central life turning point. The article reads as if watching the heroine's life from the sidelines. Most of the time, the female protagonist's thinking is not as divergent as the protagonists in other stream-of-consciousness novels we have read before. Although the book is narrated in the first person, the overall sense of flow is not very strong, so in the bland plot of the book, It is even more challenging to detect the fluctuation of the heroine's thinking.

However, the peaceful days did not last long. The troubles of living in the second half of the book also follow; the husband's business gradually deteriorates, the problems of raising children are increasing, and Natalia is struggling with a tedious job like a maid. Natalia was getting tired of the pigeons in the house. Compared with the previous article, her mood became hesitant and dazed, and the book showed more Natalia's conscious feelings in this part. And this stream-of-consciousness style of writing became more apparent with the events that followed the start of the war. Natalia seems to let her consciousness begin to flow through her life only when she feels sad and distressed. 

My question for this article is: have you noticed a turning point in Natalia's life that started to change? Did these turning points bring about a change in Natalia's writing style?