Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Tale for the Time Being, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Time, Impermanence, and the Present
The Difficulty of Communication
Life vs. Death
Coincidences and Connections
Sexual Perversion and Violence
Summary
Analysis
(1) With Jiko’s help, Nao felt stronger in her body and mind by the end of summer—she felt that she was “becoming a superhero.” Jiko encouraged Nao to sit zazen for many hours and showed her how to restrain herself from killing things, even the mosquitoes that buzzed around her. Nao learned not to swat them when they bit her and not to itch the bites after. At first, her skin swelled up from the bites; but soon, she became immune to the poison, and it no longer bothered her. She felt that there was no difference between her and the mosquitoes—her skin was no longer a barrier.
With Jiko’s help, Nao was able to practice zazen and focus on her present. This helped her feel empowered, so that she was no longer overwhelmed by the problems in her life. Jiko also taught Nao to not let her problems—as represented by the mosquitoes—bother her. Nao realized that she was connected to everything, even to the mosquitoes (and, by extension to her enemies and cruel classmates), since they were all connected as “time beings.”
Themes
(2) In August, Jiko and Muji cleaned and prepared the temple for Obon, which they believed was the time when ghosts came back from the land of the dead to visit the living. The night before Obon started, Nao was too excited to sleep and went out to sit under the temple gate. Suddenly, she saw her father sitting next to her. She assumed that Haruki had finally killed himself, which was why his ghost was there. Then, she noticed that the ghost looked really young and was wearing some kind of uniform. Nao realized that this was not her father—it was Haruki #1. Nao introduced herself to Haruki #1, who said that he didn’t know he had a grand-niece. He said, “How quickly time flies….” Nao didn’t know what else to say to him, and soon, he was gone.
Nao mistakes Haruki #1’s ghost for Haruki at first, suggesting that the two of them looked similar, in addition to sharing a name. Haruki #1’s ghost acknowledges that time passes too quickly and that he is not aware of all the new changes in the world—Nao’s very existence is something he didn’t know about. It’s implied that Haruki #1’s ghost did actually appear to Nao—he doesn’t seem to have been a figment of her imagination, since Nao herself never doubted that she actually saw him. The reader will also soon learn that the ghost’s looks and behavior were accurate to how Haruki #1 looked and acted when he was alive. Given that Nao never met Haruki before he died, the only explanation for their meeting seems to be that Haruki #1’s ghost somehow transcended time and space to visit her.
Themes
(3) Nao berated herself for not saying more to Haruki #1 when she had the chance. She thought that she should have asked him all sorts of interesting things about his life, including what death felt like.
Nao was curious about death even before she decided that she would kill herself. She knew that no one would be able to tell her more about it than someone who had already died.
Themes
(4) The next morning, Nao sneaked off to Jiko’s study, Nao’s favorite room at the temple. It overlooked the garden and had a low desk where Jiko worked. The room also had an altar with pictures of Jiko’s three dead children: Haruki #1, Sugako, and Ema. Nao inspected Haruki #1’s picture and recalled that he was just a few years older than her when he died. The picture frame suddenly came apart in her hands, and she found a letter had been jammed between the picture and the frame. Nao pocketed the letter so that she could decipher it later.
This is the first time that Nao describes Jiko’s study in the diary—but the room is already familiar to readers, because it’s the same place where Ruth saw Jiko in her dreams. This is evidence that Ruth’s dreams were indeed supernatural—she seems to have really traveled to Jiko’s temple in them, as she couldn’t have known what this room looked like without actually going there.
Themes
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(5) In his last letter to Jiko, Haruki #1 wrote that he would be dying the following day. He asked Jiko not to cry for him. Haruki #1 said that he expected to be terrified, but that he was instead “relieved and happy.” He wrote that he wanted to say many more things to Jiko and send her other things too, but that it was too late to do so. Haruki #1 wrote that he was not “a warlike man,” and all his actions would “be in accordance with the love of peace” that Jiko had taught him.
Nao regretted not asking Haruki #1 what it felt like to die, and this letter seems to answer to her question. Haruki #1 seemed sad that he’d run out of time to tell Jiko all the things he wanted to—but otherwise, he was facing his death with courage. Since he was dying as a kamikaze pilot and was supposed to crash his plane into an American warship, it is odd that he wrote that his actions would reflect “the love of peace” that Jiko taught him. This is a mystery that will be resolved later in the novel.
Themes
