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
Saturday, December 24, 1988 (Henry is 25). Henry finds himself alone on the anniversary of Annette’s death. He and Richard mutually avoid seeing each other on this day, Kimy is out of the country visiting family, and Ingrid has her own family Christmas plans. No one else seems to be free. Henry buys a bottle of Schnapps before the stores close for the holiday then wanders around Chicago, drinking. Time seems to pass slowly. To warm up from the cold, Henry gets dinner at a local German restaurant, Berghoff. He eats and his spirits improve slightly, but Henry then considers all the Christmas Eves he’ll have to live through in the future and becomes despondent.
At this point in his life, Henry has yet to meet Clare and is still stuck in his old, destructive ways, drinking to ease the pain of his grief and loneliness. Though he isn’t time traveling, his inability work through his issues prevents him from being in the moment, and he drinks to escape his pain rather than living through that pain in the here and now.
Themes
After he finishes eating, Henry decides to go to a club to distract himself. It’s largely empty aside from the bartender, Mia, who greets him warmly and gives him a drink on the house. Mia asks Henry what he plans to do later. Henry has had sex with her before, but he doesn’t feel up to it tonight. He admits that he plans to get drunk, and she tells him what she really wants is for him to accompany her to Christmas dinner with her parents the next day. Henry declines, thinking about how he has long refused to meet Ingrid’s parents. Mia mixes him more drinks before eventually cutting him off; shortly after, he collapses on the floor. Henry comes to in the hospital after getting his stomach pumped. Mia is beside him and feels terrible for letting him get too drunk.
Henry is aimless and self-destructive without Clare’s positive influence, turning to emotionless sex and extreme intoxication to dull the pain of his grief and loneliness. Even when Henry’s time traveling doesn’t physically rip him away from the present, the alienating quality of his condition makes it difficult for him to enjoy his life and have meaningful experiences in the present.
Themes
Saturday, April 8, 1989 (Clare is 17, Henry is 40). Clare spends the afternoon doing a crossword with Grandma Meagram. She thinks about how long it has been since Henry’s last visit and how he won’t be back for weeks yet. Even worse, he will soon disappear from her life for two years before they eventually meet in present. Clare is overwhelmed with longing. Despite her blindness, Grandma can tell Clare is getting restless. They decide to walk to the orchard. As they near the Meadow, Clare is surprised to see Henry there.
Clare’s constant waiting around for Henry makes it difficult for her to be content in the here and now, too. That she has foreknowledge that she and Henry will eventually have a future together, even if she doesn’t know all the details, makes the experience of waiting for Henry to return to her even more painful. Henry’s surprise appearance here suggests that perhaps he has less of a grasp on his time-traveling schedule than he thinks—or perhaps he merely withheld the existence of this visit from Clare to give her a pleasant surprise.
Themes
Grandma Meagram asks Clare to lead her to the stone in the clearing. Though she can’t see Henry and Clare hasn’t acknowledged Henry out loud, her grandmother senses Henry’s presence. Clare lies about there being someone there, but her grandmother insists. Henry tells Clare to introduce him. Clare explains to her grandma that Henry is the man she has told her about. Henry sits beside her, and Grandma Meagram touches his face. She can tell from his stubble that he is not Clare’s age. Henry affirms this, telling her he is 25 though he is actually 40 during this time traveling visit. Grandma Meagram tells Henry that Clare has told her that she and Henry will be married one day.
Grandma Meagram provides an outlet for Clare to be forthcoming with someone about Henry, which she can’t do under normal circumstances. Still, Clare’s need to lie to Grandma Meagram about Henry’s age points toward the issues at the heart of Clare and Henry’s relationship. Even if the couple will come together in a present where they’re at appropriate respective ages, it doesn’t erase the inappropriate nature of their earlier meetings, when Clare is a child under the influence of a grown adult.
Themes
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Henry vanishes suddenly, and Clare is forced to explain his time-traveling affliction to Grandma Meagram. Grandma Meagram worries he’s a demon, but Clare assures her she’s fairly certain he isn’t. When her grandmother asks her why she’d marry and have children with someone troubled by this condition, Clare admits she thinks it would be thrilling to have children who can travel through time. She compares it to a fairytale. Grandma Meagram reminds her that in fairytales, mothers always get left behind. Later that week, Clare reads to Grandma Meagram before bed. When her grandmother interrupts her reading to ask if Clare ever misses Henry, Clare tells her that she misses him constantly. Grandma Meagram responds, “Yes. It’s that way, isn’t it?”
Grandam Meagram points out another major issue in Clare’s relationship with Henry: Henry’s unpredictability and unreliability. Even if Henry can’t help his affliction, it still affects Clare in obviously negative ways and will continue to do so. Clare’s remark about it being fascinating to have time-traveling children also points to her youthful naivete—she’s being perhaps too optimistic about her future with Henry and failing to seriously consider all the ways his affliction will create serious problems for them moving forward. Still, Grandma Meagram’s remark about it being “that way” suggests that wistful longing and uncertainty are universal aspects of love—it wouldn’t be a worthwhile love if one didn’t miss one’s lover when they’re away.
Themes
