Week 4 - Bombal "Shrouded Woman"

 I found this novel easier to read and more interesting compared to week 2’s novel Marcel Proust, “Combray”. I was a little confused at first when I was reading through it. I was unsure if I was interpreting the story correctly. However, as I was reading through it I realized I was correct. The novel is narrated from a very unique point of view, which is from the protagonist that has passed. The protagonist, Ana-Maria is still able to feel and think even though she is dead. It kind of reminded me of a novel called “If I stay” by Gayle Forman. In that novel, the protagonist was able to see, hear and move around while she's in a coma. She also reflects on her relationships which had some similarities to Ana-Maria from “The Shrouded Woman”. 

Out of all the memories of her relationships with others, the most vivid memory to me was the one about her first love, Ricardo. There was a conversation between Ana-Maria and Ricardo. It was Ricardo telling Ana-Maria how his father wants to send him to Europe “to study scientific farming” (165). The way she exclaimed “And I, what am I going to do?”, made me feel sorry for her. It seems to me that she had pictured Ricardo in her future (thinking of marrying and spending her future with him) but unfortunately not the other way around. After explaining why he should go, she then told him he reminded her of someone. She said “of your mother, when she begins to talk seriously and everybody yawns. She is the one who has put those ideas into your head in order to separate you from me” (166). I love how instead of going with what he said, she was being super straightforward and said what she believed was the real reason behind it. However, he still left her, rejected her marriage proposal and said a heartbreaking comment “ I can’t, I can’t. I love you and I’m sorry, but I can’t. I must think of my future…” (166). It made me wonder if he truly loved her at that time or if it was because of the cruel reality. 

I liked the part that got circled up on page 167 “ I never knew. I only know that the period following your departure was the most disordered and tragic in my entire life”. It reminded me of the phrase ‘right person, wrong time’. They may be meant to be, but not at that moment. 

My questions for the class are: If you were in Ricardo’s position, would you also choose your career/future over your lover? Do you think Ricardo’s choice of picking his career over Ana-Maria meant that he didn't truly love her?