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
Thursday, June 7, 1973 (adult Henry is 27, and young Henry is 9). Twenty-seven-year-old Henry stands in front of the Art Institute of Chicago with his nine-year-old self. Henry’s younger self wants to look at art, but he explains that he will teach him how to pickpocket so he can survive instead. Adult Henry knows he must teach his younger self to steal, fight, trespass, and generally keep himself alive, but he regrets having to compromise his own innocence. They go into the museum to the painting of St. George and the Dragon, which Adult Henry knows is a favorite from when he was little.
Henry once again takes on the role of mentor with his younger self. Unlike most mentors, however, Henry knows intimately what his mentee feels because he has already experienced things from that perspective. Henry’s foreknowledge means that he knows exactly what his younger self needs to survive, and while it’s predetermined that he will show his younger self the ropes, he still knows and mourns the ways in which these lessons will begin to erase his innocence. Just as he did in the Field Museum, older Henry softens the shock of his lessons by taking younger Henry to a place he loves.
Themes
After looking at the painting for several minutes, older Henry explains to his younger self that pickpocketing isn’t difficult; one only needs to observe, choose a target who is distracted, determine where their wallet is, then move inconspicuously. He demonstrates on a lady who is preoccupied with her young children and a man who is lecturing his girlfriend about a nearby piece of art. Young Henry is terrified when it is his turn, but he succeeds. With their spoils, the two Henrys get a hotel room for the night. As they brush their teeth, young Henry tells older Henry that he wishes they could always travel together.
Young Henry’s love of nature, history, and art predisposes him to observance and thoughtfulness. These skills are required for pickpocketing and surviving his time-travels, so he adjusts quickly. However, he still struggles with the morality of what he must do. He looks to his older self as more than a mentor—in many ways, young Henry sees his older self as a parental figure.
Themes
Older Henry has young Henry look into the mirror beside him, and young Henry notices their shared hair, eyes, ears. They each touch the scar each has along their hairline. Young Henry realizes that they really are the same person: a present self and a future self coexisting in a single moment. The older Henry standing before him shifts in the eyes of nine-year-old Henry from being a separate person—a friend and mentor—to being simply another version of himself. Older Henry remembers how lonely that realization felt at that time. His younger self asks if there are any other time travelers, and older Henry tells his younger self that he’s never met any. Young Henry begins to cry, and older Henry tries his best to comfort him. They order room service and watch TV until young Henry disappears, leaving his older self utterly alone once more, eager to return home himself.
The older version of Henry teaching and shepherding the younger version of himself is like a metaphor for self-love that is made literal by means of time travel. In this moment, however, the illusion collapses. Older Henry knows from living through this moment already what he must do: impress upon his younger self that he is completely alone when he travels. In doing so, he hopes to begin conditioning himself for the reality that he must rely on himself alone. Because Henry is keenly aware of how isolating that reality is, his empathy allows him to show young Henry the precise care and companionship he needs for as long as he is able.
Themes
Sunday, December 10, 1978 (Henry is 15, and 15). Henry is in his bedroom alone with his other self who is traveling from only a few months in the future. The two are engaged in sexual intimacy, which Henry asserts anyone would do given the opportunity. He hasn’t had the courage to ask out a girl yet. His future self is paranoid about the door being locked, so present-day Henry double checks. Henry’s father later comes home drunk and barges in on them, and Henry realizes that he accidentally unlocked it when he checked it earlier. His father storms off; when Henry tries to talk to him, his father refuses to open his bedroom door.
While Henry often ends up traveling through time alone, he does continue to encounter different versions of himself. Their dynamic changes entirely based on their ages and life experiences. In this instance, Henry has gone through puberty and is becoming sexually aware. This leads him to relying on himself in a new way: experimenting sexually with his future self when doing so with girls is too intimidating. Henry’s need to count only on himself is underscored by his father’s drinking and judgement.
Themes
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When present Henry returns to his future self in his bedroom, he blames him for the incident because he knew it would happen. Future Henry reminds him of an incident two years prior when Henry tried to stop a little girl from dying during an accident at the ice-skating ring. He learned then that he could not change any events from happening just because he has prior knowledge. The same truth applies to his Henry’s mother’s accident. Future Henry tells himself “Immer wieder.” Things are always the same, again and again.
The younger Henry in this scene feels betrayed by his older self for letting this incident happen, but older Henry reminds himself that foreknowledge means nothing when time is already predetermined. Henry’s use of the German phrase Immer wieder (“again and again,” or “forever”) is also a nod to Henry’s interest in philosophy and language, which he uses to help make meaning of the world.
Themes
Future Henry tells his present self that he had discussed free will recently with an even older version of themselves. That older Henry suspected that they only have free will in the present, not when time traveling. Present Henry argues that all time feels like the present to him, whether he is in the future or past. It also feels as though everything has already happened, making it seem as though nothing he does matters. Future Henry says an older version of Henry told him that they still need to live as though they have free will, otherwise existence will feel meaningless. He then tells present-day Henry that his father won’t speak to him for three weeks, but after that the incident will blow over. He encourages him to ask out a girl in class he has a crush on before leaving.
This discussion centers around the key theme of free will vs. determinism. When future versions of Henry tell past versions what will come to pass, it never results in changing what happens, but it can reaffirm or encourage him in the direction of what will happen. The theories the Henrys discuss in this section deeply shape how Henry will live; he chooses to believe that his actions have meaning despite their results being predestined. The external outcome remains the same regardless, but Henry needs to believe in the existence of free will to give his life meaning.
Themes
Wednesday, November 17/Tuesday, September 28, 1982 (Henry is 19). Henry is locked in the back of a police car, injured from his capture after getting caught breaking into a house. He doesn’t know what time he has traveled too, but he is upset that he is missing his Shakespeare class in the present. Henry is happy the car is at least warm and that he isn’t in Chicago, where the police despise him. To their chagrin, he keeps escaping custody. When the police open the car door now, the cold air triggers another time traveling episode, and Henry is transported safely home. Though he is relieved, he is also nauseated and throws up on Kimy’s flowers.
This scene emphasizes Henry’s lack of control over his time traveling. He wants to be in class learning about things he loves, but instead he is uncomfortable and in danger. For him, time traveling is less often a chance to speak with different versions of himself. Far more often it is unpleasant and exhausting. The loneliness, uncertainty, and pain that time traveling brings Henry has as much influence on the man Henry will become as any information his future self gives him.
Themes
Saturday, May 14, 1983 (Clare is 11, almost 12). Clare attends the sleepover birthday party of a classmate, Mary Christina. She and her other friends eat a cake shaped like a unicorn before watching The Parent Trap with Mary Christina’s family. Clare is embarrassed by how her friends Patty and Ruth giggle and gossip over Mary Christina’s older brothers. After the rest of the family goes to bed, the girls drink the Schnapps that Nancy brought. They play Truth of Dare, discussing bra sizes and daring each other to run around topless.
Just as time travel shapes how Henry grows up, Clare’s relationship with future Henry also shapes her childhood. Though her friends are engaged in developmentally appropriate behavior, Clare finds them immature. Having a grown man for a best friend and confidant pushes Clare, intentionally or not, to behave more like an adult than a preteen.
Themes
When the girls get tired of their game, they decide to play with Mary Christina’s Ouija board. The other girls ask the board about which boys like them when it is their turn, but Clare would rather know about her mother Lucille’s wellbeing, her father Philip’s temper, her brother Mark’s hijinks, and Henry’s full identity. While Clare tries to formulate a question, Ruth asks the board who likes Clare. The Ouija board spells out Henry’s name, which makes Clare blush. When Mary Christina asks who that is, the board responds, “husband.” Clare feigns ignorance of Henry and argues that she clearly isn’t married, but she is secretly mystified by the fact that Henry may become her husband one day.
As the night progresses, Clare’s judgment of her friends continues to demonstrate how having Henry in her life has caused her to mature faster than her peers. Clare doesn’t waste time worrying about boys like the other girls—she has more significant concerns. Still, though Clare believes that she is more mature than her friends, her belief in the Ouija board as a supernatural source of knowledge highlights her youth. She does not question the board’s assertion that she will marry a man named Henry. She believes this both because she still has faith in the spiritual world and because, on some level, she wants the board’s prediction to come true.
Themes
Thursday, April 12, 1984 (Henry is 36, Clare is 12). Henry and Clare play chess in the Meadow on a pleasant spring day. They discuss The Beatles, and Clare asserts that Paul is her favorite because she thinks the musician is beautiful. Henry is shocked to find this makes him jealous. As they continue playing chess, Clare "mischievously" asks Henry who he has a crush on. Henry clarifies if she means when he was her age. In response, Clare asks him when he was her age. Henry tells Clare he is eight years her senior, and she asks if that means he is 20. Henry explains that the person sitting beside her is 36, though the present version of himself living elsewhere is 20. When Clare asks if there are two of him, he tells her that time traveling means that there can be many versions of him at once.
This scene is important because it marks the first time Henry struggles to separate his future wife from her past self. Clare often tries to fish for information about the future when Henry visits, but this is the first time she attempts to obtain information with the express hope of a romance between the two of them. Clare for the first time sees and treats Henry as more than a friend. In turn, it’s also the first instance of Henry struggling to fight his attraction to the underage version of Clare in front of him.
Themes
Clare returns to her question about who Henry likes. He tells her about his boyhood crush, but Clare also wants to know who he liked at 20 and who he likes now at 36. Henry can’t remember anyone specific among the many women he dated in his twenties, but he hesitates to answer about his present life. Clare presses him, asking if he is married. He tells her he is married to a “beautiful, patient, talented, smart woman,” but declines to tell her who. Clare seems disappointed by this answer, then she asks if she’s married in the future. Henry refuses to tell her.
Henry’s strategy for preventing inappropriate interactions with Clare is avoiding sharing anything at all, but Clare is more persistent than he counts on. Henry is aware of how loaded the situation has become and how dangerous a misstep would now be. He gives her vague information to appease her, but Clare is unsatisfied.
Themes
Clare expresses her frustration with Henry always knowing more about her than she knows about him. She argues that her other friends share everything with her and vice-versa—except Henry’s existence. She wonders if he is actually human, and Henry asserts that he is. They discuss the possibility of other fantastical things being true, though Clare draws the line at comparing biblical figures to fairy tale characters. Clare asks Henry to prove he is real, but he argues that he can’t prove that any more than she can prove that she herself is real. They discuss the existence of God, whom Clare still believes in, though she suspects Henry does not.
Clare presses Henry for details because he holds all the information regarding the future, creating a power imbalance in which Henry has the upper hand. Clare attempts to even out the playing field by manipulating Henry’s emotions, compelling him to be more forthcoming in the name of friendship—even though friendship is not what she really wants. In equating Henry to the fantastical or spiritual beings she has encountered in the Bible, Clare reaffirms her belief that he is superhuman (and in turn, superior to her).
Themes
Clare asks Henry if his wife time travels, and he assures her that she does not. He explains that he is thankful for this because time traveling can be dangerous. Clare wonders if Henry loves his wife; he assures her he does. When Clare begins to cry, Henry considers the ways in which Clare is still very young despite her growing maturity. He asks her why she is upset, and she admits that she had secretly hoped that Henry would be her husband.
The more information Clare receives about Henry’s wife in the future—not knowing the key detail that she is in fact his wife—the more upset she becomes, indicating the intensity of her love for him. Clare’s outpouring of emotion demonstrates for Henry how excitable she is as a teenager. This encourages to stay firm in his choice to not share compromising details with her.
Themes
Wednesday, June 27, 1984 (Clare is 13). Clare lingers in the Meadow before going inside for dinner. She thinks about Henry, who will not return until later in the summer. A storm is rolling in. She considers how little she has questioned the uniqueness of his presence in her life or what it means to be from the future. She wishes he could take her there, if it is a place at all. Clare is intimidated by the future and frustrated that Henry knows what lies there and she doesn’t. As the thunderstorm reaches her and soaks her clothes, she longs for not only Henry’s presence, but his touch.
As Clare’s love for Henry escalates beyond friendship, her longing for him intensifies too. Her desire for him when he is away is complicated by her growing understanding of what loving Henry costs her. Truly falling for and committing to Henry will perpetuate Clare’s loneliness, her dissatisfaction with the upper hand Henry maintains, and her frustration at seeing a part of her future appear before her with no context or clarity. These points of contention do not deter her, however; they only make her need more poignant.
Themes
Sunday, September 23, 1984 (Henry is 35, Clare is 13). Henry arrives in the Meadow in the early morning. He dresses and eats the food Clare left in the box as usual, then falls asleep. She is there reading when he wakes up, and he asks if she can bring him coffee from the kitchen. He notices the way her body is changing as she walks to the house. Clare returns with particularly strong coffee, which she has made for the first time. She tries it and is repulsed by the taste. Henry tells her that in the future she likes to add cream and sugar.
The older Clare gets, the more Henry sees flashes of the woman she will become—the woman he is in love with. He actively struggles with quashing his inappropriate attraction to her while she is underage. Rather than confronting this head on, Henry continues to deflect his and Clare’s mutual attraction to each other, in this scene by having Clare get coffee.
Themes
Clare accuses Henry of turning her into a “freak” by sharing her future preferences with her. She wonders how she will know what she really likes if he tells her before she comes to her own conclusions. They discuss free will again. Clare admits that because her future is the past for Henry when he comes to visit her, it makes her feel as though everything has already happened to her without her knowledge. Henry explains that this thought bothers him constantly as well. He feels often like his life and actions are already cemented, but he still wants what he does to have meaning.
Henry’s casual slip about Clare’s future opinions about coffee triggers an outburst because it inflames the frustration she was already feeling. This scene is the first instance of Clare expressing frustration with her and Henry’s dynamic. Her main complaint—that Henry knows more about her and the person she will become than she does—is something he can’t refute. Still, he suggests that feeling powerless in the face of the future is a universal experience.
Themes
Clare argues that God is what gives things meaning, and Henry responds that the universe seems too chaotic for God to exist. As they talk, Henry puts Clare’s feet in his lap playfully. Though Henry can see Clare’s logical mind at work, her childlike hope wins out. She asserts that she wants God to be real. Henry tells her that’s okay. They discuss angels, and Clare tells Henry she wishes he had wings like an angel. Henry quotes a Rilke poem, saying “Every angel is terrifying.” He explains that he and Clare love Rilke’s poetry in the future.
Clare is at an age where she is wrestling with what she was taught and what she actually believes. However, she still holds tightly to her Catholic beliefs. This willingness to entertain the supernatural isn’t blind faith, however; Clare still thinks of Henry as an angelic being, so his presence in her life actively supports her remaining religious beliefs. This passage is also significant because it’s Clare’s first introduction to Rilke’s poetry, which later becomes extremely important to the couple.
Themes
Clare reminds Henry that she wishes he didn’t tell her what she likes. He teasingly yanks on her feet, though he releases her when the motion ends up feeling unintentionally sexual. Clare tells Henry that she knows having him in her life is changing her, making her different than other girls her age. Henry responds that he knows his presence is influencing her. He tries to separate in his mind the future version of Clare who is his wife and the young version of her before him. Clare’s father calls to her from the house, and she leaves to go to church with her family.
Despite Henry’s efforts, he keeps crossing boundaries—first by sharing future information with Clare against her wishes, then by initiating physical contact that escalates inappropriately. The truth is that Henry will continue to impact Clare’s development regardless of his intentions if he can’t separate the girl in front of him from his wife in the future.
Themes
