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) Ruth thinks that no one can keep hold of water and prevent it from floating away. She remembers how Tepco (the company that tried to fix the nuclear leak at the plant in Fukushima) learned this lesson when it tried to use seawater to cool the reactors. The contaminated sea water started to leak from its containment zone, so Tepco finally released it back into the Pacific Ocean. Ruth thinks that information, like water, is difficult too is to hold on to. Tepco and the Japanese government tried to contain this information, but the Japan public found out, and they were angry.
Ruth compares information with water to show that both these things are beyond people’s control—they are constantly moving and changing and can’t be contained. Just as the contaminated water couldn’t be contained, neither could the fact that the water was put back into the ocean stay hidden from the public.
Themes
(2) In medieval Japan, people believed that earthquakes were caused by “an angry catfish who lived under the islands.” They believed that the Kashima Deity held the fish in check by pinning its head to the ground with a huge stone. But when the god was distracted or dozed off, the fish thrashed around, causing the earth to shake.
The medieval belief that earthquakes were a catfish shaking the land speaks to the idea that change is unavoidable. Just like Ruth’s recognition that it’s futile to try to escape a tsunami, people in medieval Japan seemed to understand that they were powerless to stop cataclysmic changes like natural disasters—whether the catfish myth was actually real or not.
Themes
(3) The Earthquake Catfish wasn’t considered a malevolent creature despite the destruction it caused. A subspecies of this fish was called the World-Rectifying Catfish, and this fish caused beneficial political and economic disruptions. It went after rich elites who rigged the economy and engaged in political corruption. The catfish caused havoc and destruction, forcing the wealthy to surrender their assets in order to rebuild—they had to distribute their wealth to the labor class of builders and workers.
People in medieval Japan recognized that change was necessary. Even though something like an earthquake it was destructive, it shook things up and shifted dynamics of power and money, which was necessary in order to keep society balanced and fair. Despite the often violent and chaotic nature of change, this passage makes the case that it is ultimately a positive thing.
Themes
(4) Even in modern times, earthquakes and catfish are linked: Ruth has a smartphone app to track earthquakes, and the app’s logo is a cartoon catfish. Oliver wonders if the app would even work in Whaletown. He says that in Stuttgart, where his parents grew up, there were gigantic catfish that lived at the bottom of the river, and the fish swam up to the top right before an earthquake. Oliver downloads the app, but he is disappointed to find out that it only works in Japan. Ruth says that he should probably go to Japan so he can use the app, but Oliver replies that Japan seems to be coming to them.
The catfish represents earthquakes across geography and time, showing that people in different cultures and at various periods in history are connected by common associations. The fact that both medieval Japanese culture and Oliver’s own hometown associated earthquakes with catfish further strengthens the connection between Ruth and Oliver’s lives and Nao’s life in Japan.
Themes
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(5) Ruth asks Oliver what he means by saying that Japan is coming to them, and he explains that the earthquake and tsunami moved Japan’s coast closer to Canada. He also says that it caused Earth’s mass to shift closer to its core, which makes the planet spin faster. Earth’s days are now very slightly shorter. Ruth thinks that this is terrible.
So far, Ruth has focused on how the tsunami destroyed human life and property—but Oliver points out that the changes are even bigger than what Ruth thought. Land masses, the length of days, and the structure of Earth itself have all been transformed. Even the planet, and time itself, are “time beings.”
Themes
