Literature Analysis #1

The Time Traveler's Wife

1.       Henry and Clare meet at Newberry Library in Chicago. Henry is 28 years old and Clare is 20. When Clare spots Henry in the library she is overly enthusiastic and Henry is quite confused. Nevertheless, Henry agrees to her invitation to dinner. At dinner, Clare explains that she has known him since she was six, when he time traveled (at age 43) to the meadow outside of her house. She then proceeds to show him her diary which has all the dates he visited. He is overwhelmed by the information placed in front of him but it still intrigued by Clare. They begin dating and eventually get married. Throughout the novel, in between present time for Henry and Clare, it jumps to some of times Henry time travels which includes visits to see Clare in the meadow and to the car accident where his mom died when he was a young boy. As the story continues to unfold, Henry and Clare decide that they want to have a child. She gets pregnant multiple times but cannot make it to full term because the baby time travels out of her stomach. Eventually, the seventh pregnancy makes it to full term and Henry and Clare have a baby girl named Alba, who also time travels. Right before Alba is born, Henry time travels to the future, which is rare, and sees Alba as a ten year old. He learns from her that he dies when she is five and he is 43. The rest of the novel is the anticipation of his death. After he dies, we see Clare is deeply depressed, but it ends with Henry time travels (age 43) and visits Clare when she is 82 years old.

2.       The Theme in The Time Traveler’s Wife that jumps out to me is time. Time is subject to the individual. Henry experiences the past, present and future all at once while Clare is stuck with solely the present. When she is waiting for Henry, time seems to move very slowly, and when he’s with her time speed up.

3.       The tone I think Audrey Niffenegger used was mysterious and puzzling. The most obvious example of this in the book is how he times travel. He gets together with Kendrick, a doctor who finally believes him and after years of research they find out that three genes repeat themselves but they never fully understand how he can do it. A second example is that when Henry disappears, Clare spends the time he’s gone wondering and worrying where he is, and this scenario comes up constantly. Other examples of this are Clare waiting for when Henry would show up in the meadow when she was younger, why she kept having miscarriages, and how Henry would die in the end.

4.       - Metaphorical allusion to the distance in relationships and how the important people in our lives stay with us even after they are gone. Also, the author used a biblical allusion. “To walk through the Field Museum was to walk through Eden and see all that passed there.” (pg.24)

- Imagery: “The room is quiet and crowded full of solid, heavy tables piled with books surrounded by readers. Chicago autumn morning light shines through the tall windows.” (pg. 3)

- Symbolism: Time as a tape recorder. To help Clare (age 6) understand time travel, Henry used the example of a tape recorder. How you can play, pause, rewind, etc. (pg.45)

- Meaning of Meadow (setting): The meadow is like the cradle to Clare’s relationship with Henry. It serves as a sense of peace from his troubled present life with Clare. Finally, the happy times in the meadow take place when it is warm. For example, Henry and Clare made love for the first time. While in the winter, the meadow is dark and gloomy; Henry’s death takes place here. (pg516)

- Foreshadowing: Henry slips about Clare’s mother would later die of ovarian cancer. With the time traveling in general, Henry will tell Clare little things that happen in the future. For example, how she likes her coffee. (pg.74)

- Similes: “Gomez looks at me expectantly, like a large dog waiting to see if I have any more lunch meat.” (pg. 124) The use of similes thrown in constantly throughout this novel expands the imagery the author is trying to convey to the reader.

- Flashback: These take place constantly throughout the novel because when Henry time travels, he tends to go to the past. An example of this, is when Henry visits Clare in the meadow and they are playing chess and talking about the Beatles. (pg. 620)

- Characterization: At first Clare’s character is defined by her waiting and Henry is defined by his unpredictable comings and goings. The roles of the characters switch, however, when Henry learns of when he is going to die, and he is now the one waiting.

- Metaphor: Time travel is used as a metaphor throughout the novel for love, for loss and absence, for fate, aging and death. (Seen every time he travels)

- Diction: The author choices her words to give the reader insight into the character’s emotion of each scenario. For example, “’Ugh, it’s filthy.’ I say. Henry looks offended.”