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
Sunday, July 11, 2004 (Clare is 33, Henry is 41). Clare finds Henry asleep and badly hurt on the kitchen floor. She is afraid to move him, so she makes coffee and waits for him to wake up. When he does, she can tell he’s been attacked and was out in the elements for a long time while he was time traveling. He can hardly move and struggles to speak. The sit together on the kitchen floor and cry, both relieved that he is home and scared about what might happen next.
Earlier in their relationship, Clare pined for Henry in his absence, but she didn’t especially worry about his safety. However, that seems no longer to quite be the case, as Henry’s time travels seem to become more dangerous and unpredictable as he ages. Despite this, note that Henry still chooses not to disclose his impending death to Clare, perhaps to spare her from anguishing in vain over a future she has no power to change.
Themes
Thursday, December 23, 2004 (Clare is 33, Henry is 41). Clare drinks her coffee in a café while Henry takes Alba to see Santa at the mall. Dr. Kendrick happens to walk by with his wife Nancy and their kids, Colin and Nadia. Kendrick stays with Clare while the rest of his family continues their shopping. He and Clare discuss Henry’s worsening condition. Clare explains that Henry is now traveling every few days. Kendrick is frustrated that Henry hasn’t told him anything. He asks Clare to let him sequence Alba’s DNA, but Clare won’t allow it.
Alba’s birth hasn’t turned out to be the fresh start that Henry and Clare hoped it would be—in fact, Henry’s episodes have only worsened and grown more frequent since her birth. To make matters worse, Henry seems to have begun to neglect the self-care that used help him manage his condition: here, readers learn that Henry hasn’t been forthcoming about his worsening symptoms with Dr. Kendrick.
Themes
