The Time Traveler’s Wife: Chapter 43 Summary & Analysis

Sunday, December 31, 2006 (Clare is 35, Henry is 43) (7:25 p.m.). Clare has decided to throw a New Year’s Eve party. Though Henry initially resisted, he agrees in the end. After the day’s preparations are finished, Henry informs Clare it’s time for her to get ready. After she showers and dresses, she brings Henry into their bedroom to help him change. He interrupts her search for clothing by crawling onto the bed and asking her to join him. Clare thinks there isn’t enough time for them to have sex, but Henry tells her they have to take advantage of the time they have left. Without Henry telling her as much, Clare worries this may be the last time they have sex.

(8:05 p.m.). Clare and Henry reemerge from their bedroom dressed as guests begin to arrive. Kimy and Richard are first to come in from the snowstorm outside. As Henry greets his father, he realizes that everyone he cares about will be in attendance tonight, arriving like a parade of the most important parts of his life. Only his loved ones who have died will miss the event. He is overwhelmed by the idea of seeing everyone and by the later events of the evening.

(8:20 p.m.). Gomez and Charisse arrive next. Gomez makes a joke about Henry forgetting to shovel the walkway before heading outside to do it himself. Charisse presents Alba with a Christmas present, and Alba runs off with to show it to Henry. Clare and Charisse discuss their recent artistic endeavors. Charisse describes the paintings of computer viruses she has been making lately, explaining that if someone reproduced them as code, they could cause serious issues for programmers. She invites Clare to her upcoming gallery show in the spring.

(8:50 p.m.). Henry considers all the people who are currently in their house. Some people who haven’t seen him since his accident, he notices, regard him with pity. When Celia arrives, she is more straightforward and tells him she regrets seeing him in this state. She presents him with a photo of himself that Ingrid took in 1990. He thanks her and regards it as an omen of death. Celia counters that he is very much alive, but Henry responds he won’t be for long.

(9:45 p.m.). Clare visits with Dr. Kendrick’s children, Nadia and Colin, who are playing with Alba. They all want to stay up until midnight, so Clare sends them to Alba’s room to play. Alicia then finds Clare and points out Philip’s flirtation with Henry’s coworker, Isabelle. Richard approaches them as they break down in a fit of laughter. He and Alicia leave to talk about music, and Kendrick takes the opportunity to apologize to Clare for going behind her back with Henry to sequence Alba’s genes. Clare tells him she forgives him, but she becomes distracted when she realizes she hasn’t seen Henry for nearly an hour.

(9:48 p.m.). Henry gets overheated in the house, so he ventures out to porch to cool off. On his way, he asks Gomez to join him outside. Once they are both in the yard alone, Henry thanks Gomez for all his help over the years. Gomez asks him why he is saying this now, and Henry explains he’s going to die very soon. Gomez wants more information, but Henry won’t tell him. They linger awkwardly outside for a time before hugging and returning to the party.

(10:15 p.m.). Clare can’t locate Henry in the living room or the kitchen. She finds Ben making tea and asks him if he has seen Henry. Ben tells Clare he and Henry were just on the porch, though Henry seemed hopeless in the way many of Ben’s terminal patients tend to be before the end. Clare assures him that Henry has just been struggling with the loss of his feet. Ben isn’t convinced. He tells Clare that he wants Henry to be at his eventual funeral to quote John Donne; Clare promises she will attend if Henry can’t make it.

Clare finally finds Henry alone on the front porch. It’s cold out, so she asks him to come inside. Henry ignores Clare’s request, instead responding that he wishes he could pause time in this moment. They stay on the porch, watching it snow. Henry tells Clare, at last, that the time has come. She begs him to stay, and he tells her that he can’t stop it— “it has already happened.” Clare is angry that he didn’t tell her sooner so she could cancel the party, but Henry explains he wanted her to be surrounded by loved ones when it happens. He is happy he got the chance to say his goodbyes.

Henry asks the time, and Clare tells him it’s around 11 p.m.  They cuddle beneath a blanket together, holding each other. The yard is white with snow. As it grows closer to midnight, Henry becomes afraid. Clare encircles her body around his, hoping it might hold him there. He asks her to kiss him; she does, and he disappears. Clare sits alone on the porch listening to the guests inside countdown to midnight. Down the street, she hears fireworks going off. She waits to see what will happen next.