Symbolism of the Doves

International Baccalaureate World Literature

The Symbolism of the Doves in The Time of the Doves

In novels, symbolism is often used to enhance the meaning of a story. By using a specific symbol to represent a person, an idea, emotion, or an event, the reader is able to get more out of the true meaning of the work, and perhaps, understand more fully the intent of the author. In the novel The Time of the Doves, written by Mercé Rodoreda, the main symbol is the doves. This symbol is used as a negative representative, mirroring different people, events, and emotions through out the novel. Usually, a symbol is consistent in its meaning, however, in this novel, the meaning changes according to context. The severity of the doves and the situation they represent, and how they affect those around them, increase as the novel progresses.

The first time the doves are introduced in the novel was a few months after Quimet and Colemeta had been married. It dove appeared on their balcony with a broken wing, half dead, and bloody. At first, everyone had different reactions to the bird. Quimet was fascinated by it and wanted to keep it. Colometa, saw no harm in it, and nursed the bird back to health. Cintet, wanted to let the bird go, thinking it belonged to a neighbor. Mateu, said the best thing to do to the bird would be to kill it, “that it was better for it to die than to live tied up like a prisoner” (Rodoreda 65). Nevertheless, Quimet decided to keep the dove, and the next day, brought a mate home for it. They named the birds Coffee and Maringa. A few days later, Quimet, Cintet, and Mateu came over and started to build the dovecote. Colometa says:

[They] took everything I had out of the shed: my clothes basket, my chairs, my hamper for dirty clothes, my basket full of clothesline… they promised me that later on they’d build another shed where I could keep my things, but for the moment I had to bring everything down to the apartment… (Rodoreda 67)

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The displacement of Colometa and of her things at this point in the novel shows just exactly how important she was to Quimet compared to the doves. She explains, “Whatever they wanted they got” (Rodoreda 69). The reader can also sense the theme of inferiority of women. Although, naturally, Colometa was a very compliant character, the reader can still see how much the male plays the dominant role in the relationship. Continuing through the novel, Colometa begins having “little headaches.” Stressed, tired, and uneasy about the doves, life starts to become more complicated. The doves become the common topic for conversation, and soon, first priority. “I couldn’t hang clothes on the roof because the doves would get them dirty. I had to hang them on the balcony” (Rodoreda 73). The reader can feel the emotion behind this statement, as it shows the disgust Colometa is beginning to feel towards the doves. The life of Colometa remained close to constant from that point on, that is, until she got a job cleaning houses. That is where the first shift in the story and in the symbolism of the doves occurs.

After searching for a few days, Colometa finally found a job cleaning houses for an old couple down town. “Every day [she] felt more worn out” (Rodoreda 96). Her little headaches had become big headaches and her annoyance of the doves had begun to grow. In fact, one day, when she returned home from work, she heard her son Antonio and her little girl Rita, laughing upstairs. Normally, when she got home from work, they were on the floor sleeping. Hearing their laughter, however, sent her rushing up the stairs. “Holding my breath while I turned the key in the lock...” she saw:

The balcony was full of doves and there were some in the hallway too, and I couldn’t see the children anywhere… I found them in that dark little room where we’d put Antonio when he was very small… Rita was sitting on the floor with a dove in her lap and the boy had three doves in front of him (Rodoreda 97).

Having the doves in her home became a difficult enough burden to carry, but to see the things she disliked most running around, wild with her children, would be a mother’s nightmare. Colometa left the room with birds flying everywhere and her children crying. “And the trouble I had getting those doves out” she said, “and the act those kids had been putting on! I could see for a while the doves had [become] masters of the apartment in the morning while I was gone” (Rodoreda 97). When Quimet got home, he “thought it was all very cute” (Rodoreda 97). He said:

…The dovecote was the heart where the blood comes from that goes through the body and returns to the heart and how the doves left the dovecote which was the heart and went through the apartment which was the body and returned to the dovecote which was the heart. And he said we should try and get more doves (Rodoreda 97).

Frustrated and upset, all Colometa wanted was support from her husband. Instead, once again, she and her opinions were over looked, and Quimet took over the situation. As time moved on, Colometa’s already big headaches, became even bigger. Having a part time job, taking care of her kids, and dealing with Quimet, gave her a headache as it was. Adding the new stresses of the doves, made them even bigger. “All I head was doves cooing. I was killing myself cleaning up after the doves. My whole body stank of doves. Doves on the roof, doves in the apartment. I’d see them in my dreams (Rodoreda 100). Her personality changed drastically over the next few months, affecting her relationships with her family and friends and at work. The affect the doves had on her were almost more than she could handle. “I was worn out. I was killing myself working and everything seemed to go wrong. Quimet didn’t see that I needed a little help myself … [he] kept bringing home doves… and on Sundays he and Cintet would go off together” (Rodoreda 107). These new strains in her life added constant pressure and anxiety, where finally, she begins to break.

It was soon after that she decided what she needed to do. “I started bothering the doves while they were roosting… I picked up the eggs under a dove who hadn’t run away and I waved them in front of her beak… after a while there were a lot of empty nests. And the eggs quietly [rotted] away in the straw (Rodoreda 111,112).

She did exactly what was done to her because of the doves, to the doves. She displaced her emotions and psychological struggles on the doves hoping it would get rid of the stress in her life. In this situation, Colometa’s displacement of her feelings on the doves did temporarily fix the ticking time bomb inside of her. It didn’t take long for her conscious to turn on, and then she was back to normal. Interestingly enough, Colometa and Quimet seem to change places on the next page. Quimet exclaims, “the doves weren’t worth a penny and all they were good for was picking up bits of straw in their beaks and making nests and altogether it was a pain” (Rodoreda 113). Not long after, Quimet went off to war with Mateu and Cintet. Colometa was left to take care of the children and doves, but life began to settle back down. The doves eventually left, except for one. The day Colometa was told of Quimet’s death was the same day the last bird died:

And inside, all the way in the back, there was a dove lying with his belly up, the one with the half moons. His neck feathers were still wet from his death sweat, his eyes were cloudy. Feathers and bones. He was already cold (Rodoreda 138).

The dove’s role in this novel was beyond significant. Their symbolism for specific people, events, and emotions allowed a deeper look into the heart of the book. The affect the doves had been almost always on Colometa. Even after the last dove died, she was still affected by them. A woman in the park was one day observing her, “She misses her doves, the dove lady misses her doves, and all she does is long for them” (Rodoreda 175).