Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Time Traveler’s Wife, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Here and Now
Love and Absence
Free Will vs. Determinism
Language and Art
Self-Love
Summary
Analysis
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 (Henry is 38, Clare is 40). Henry has traveled to the Surrealist Galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago. While Clare will have the baby soon, Henry is pleased to be traveling forward in time for a while. He watches a group of school children on a field trip discuss an exhibit on Joseph Cornell. He studies one girl in particular, who has dark curls and seems to have an answer to every question the museum docent asks. The docent asks the children if they know what inspired Cornell’s Aviary pieces. The little girl responds that his loneliness drove him to make bird houses because birds symbolize freedom, and their houses symbolize safety. The girl’s precociousness astounds Henry.
Henry’s time travels are beyond his control, but the places and times to which he travels are never arbitrary. Given that Henry, in the present, is anxiously awaiting the birth of his and Clare’s child, it seems likely that the precocious girl he witnesses at the museum is their daughter. Further supporting this fact is the girl’s keen interest in art—something she would have inherited from Clare. In an act of self-care, Henry’s subconscious (or whatever force dictates where and when he time travels) transports him to the future to assure him that his daughter will be born healthy and will go on to thrive.
Themes
The teacher thanks the girl, addressing her as Alba, and Henry realizes he is watching his 10-year-old daughter. Alba notices Henry at the same time, recognizing him as her father. Alba introduces Henry to her teacher, who responds that Alba’s father is dead. Henry tries to explain, but Alba interrupts to suggest they call Clare, who will tell the teacher it’s okay to let Alba go with Henry. They do, and Alba hands the phone to Henry. Clare is ecstatic to hear his voice; she agrees to hurry down to the museum to see him. They tell each other “I love you” and hang up.
Henry confirms what readers likely suspected to be true: the precocious child is Henry and Clare’s daughter. This scene also reveals the troubling fact of Henry’s death, though not when or how it happens. Though Henry’s condition has repeatedly taken away from Henry and Clare’s time in the here and now, the tradeoff is that it allows for them to make up for some of their lost time, with a past version of Henry able to visit Clare after his death.
Themes
As Alba and Henry wait for Clare, they talk about Alba’s life. Henry learns that Alba is also a “Chrono-Displaced Person,” and she sees him periodically when he travels to the future. Henry asks when he dies, and Alba tells him it happened when she was five. Alba worries she shouldn’t have told him. Henry asks about Clare, and Alba responds that she’s fine but misses him. Henry also learns that Richard has been teaching Alba to play the violin and that Alba has traveled to see Annette sing in the past. Alba explains that she has some control over when and where she travels, unlike Henry.
Henry’s death occurs five years after Alba’s birth (and thus five years after the novel’s present). The passage builds intrigue with its failure to disclose the cause of Henry’s death. Once more, Henry’s condition puts him in a tough spot, giving him foreknowledge of critical moments in his life—but he still can’t change anything. Alba also resolves another previously unanswered question, confirming that she will inherit her father’s time-traveling condition. Though she, unlike him, she has some control over her travels.
Themes
Henry and Alba go outside to meet Clare. It is cold out, so they both huddle under Henry’s stolen coat. With Alba leaning against him, Henry is overcome with love and amazement at who his daughter will become. Henry feels that he will likely travel back to the present soon, but he wants more than anything to stay. Clare’s car appears. She parks and runs up the steps, making it within a few feet of Henry before he begins to disappear. As he goes, he tells her he loves her once more.
Henry’s condition robs him of time with his family in the here and now, but traveling to the future allows him a glimpse at the person his daughter will become. When Henry disappears just before Clare can greet him, it reinforces the comingling of love, absence, and longing that has remained at the core of their relationship.
Themes
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7:20 p.m. Friday, August 24, 2001 (Clare is 30, Henry is 38). Clare lounges in the backyard, thankful that the heat of the day is dispersing. She worries about Henry, who has been gone all day, and hopes she won’t go into labor until her returns. Clare gets hungry, so she grabs her things and walks down the street to get Thai food for dinner. As she eats, she tries to theorize where Henry has traveled to, but she knows there is no way to tell. When she gets home, Henry has returned. Clare hadn’t left a note, and Henry panicked when he couldn’t find her. Clare tells him that he now knows what it’s like for her. He tells her all about meeting Alba: her intelligence, her beauty, her time traveling abilities. He does not tell Clare about his death.
Henry’s panic upon returning home and finding Clare gone puts things into perspective for him—while it’s rare for Henry to wonder where Clare is, it’s rare for Clare not to wonder where Henry has gone and when he’ll return. This underscores the asymmetry of their relationship, despite their mutual love for each other. Henry’s decision not to tell Clare about his death is another example of him exercising agency where he can: though he cannot prevent his death from happening, he can choose to protect Clare from the pain that knowing about his impending death would cause her.
Themes
