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, November 30, 1991 (Henry is 28, Clare is 20). Henry is nervous about attending dinner at Clare’s apartment with her roommate Charisse and Charisse’s boyfriend, Gomez; he has yet to see Clare’s place or meet her friends. When Henry arrives, he is greeted by Gomez, who Henry recognizes but can’t remember from where. They address each other as “comrade” playfully, though Henry can tell Gomez is sizing him up. Inside, Henry observes the railroad layout of the apartment and the eclectic décor choices. Gomez announces Henry’s arrival. Henry kisses Clare and meets Charisse, with whom he immediately feels comfortable. Henry realizes from the mess in the kitchen that no one but him knows how to cook, so he takes over dinner preparations.
This passage marks a critical development in Clare and Henry’s relationship—he’s meeting her friends for the first time. Gomez’s behavior is odd and perhaps suggests that he has feelings for Clare and sees Henry as competition. It’s plausible that the discomfort of this situation will trigger a time-traveling episode for Henry, which would put Clare in a bind: how would she explain Henry’s sudden absence to people who are (likely) unaware of his condition? As Henry and Clare begin their life together in the present, it seems that Henry’s condition will test the limits of what they’re willing to endure for the sake of love.
Themes
As Henry cooks, Clare notices Gomez chain smoking, getting increasingly tipsy, and making fun of Henry behind his back. He stops only when Charisse chastises him. By the time dinner is ready, everyone is drunk. Gomez toasts to the revolution, and when Henry inquires which one, Gomez asserts the next one. He says they will eat the rich. Henry points out that Clare comes from a wealthy family and insists they can’t eat her; Gomez agrees but jokes that Clare would be delicious. When Clare goes to the kitchen to fetch dessert, Gomez follows her. He grabs hold of her to tell her that Henry is the guy he cautioned her about. He lets her go when Charisse comes in the room.
Gomez’s remark to Clare about Henry being the guy he warned her about explains Gomez’s odd behavior this evening. Though it’s not clear exactly what he’s talking about, it seems that Gomez has had heard negative rumors about Henry and wants Clare to look out for herself. Recall that at this point in Henry’s life, his past of drinking to excess and having ample, emotionless sex to cope with his grief and loneliness isn’t so far behind him, so it’s possible that this is what Gomez is cautioning Clare about.
Themes
Back at the table, Henry watches Gomez smoke and wonders what it is about him that bothers him. Henry realizes he knows him from an Iggy Pop concert. Gomez confirms Henry’s guess, telling him that he’d seen Henry there with a girl named Ingrid. They all discuss their affection for punk music until the night winds down. As Clare walks Henry out, she apologizes for Gomez’s behavior. Henry can tell there is something else Clare is thinking about, though she doesn’t say more. He leaves, but part of him wishes he could stay.
Henry doesn’t mention what exactly happened with Gomez at the Iggy Pop concert, but whatever it is can’t be good, based on Gomez’s behavior. Recall that Ingrid is the woman Henry had been seeing before he met Clare. Earlier, he alluded to a bad evening hen had with her, so perhaps this is what Gomez is referencing now. Regardless of the specifics, the passage reaffirms that Henry will continue to struggle in his personal life until he starts taking care of himself and not using alcohol and reckless physical intimacy to dull his pain.
Themes
Saturday, December 14, 1991/Tuesday, May 9, 2000 (Henry is 36). Henry is brawling with a man who addressed him with a homophobic slur. Gomez appears beside Henry. Henry pauses, and Gomez tells him that the man on the sidewalk is his friend, Nick. Gomez congratulates Henry on his “artistic” job of beating Nick up before asking if he can take him to the hospital now. Henry agrees, though he asks Gomez the date first. Gomez is puzzled when Henry also asks for the year.
This scene takes place about a month after the dinner party, but now Henry is eight years older than he was then—this raises the question of whether Gomez recognizes Henry from Clare and Charisse’s apartment. Henry’s condition makes it difficult for him to develop normal relationships with others, since he never knows when he’ll be taken out of the present and can’t rely on continuity.
Themes
Get the entire The Time Traveler’s Wife LitChart as a printable PDF.
Gomez comments on Henry’s attire, which includes pink sneakers and a sweater with yellow duckies. Henry explains that he was merely making do with what he had. He asks Gomez to wait there, but he insists on joining Henry while he breaks into a store. Gomez is impressed by the ease with which Henry’s springs the locks on the back door. Once Henry acquires more socially appropriate clothing, he asks Gomez if he wants to get dinner. Though Gomez is still perplexed by Henry’s behavior, he follows him to a Swedish restaurant nearby.
The ease with which Henry breaks into the store likely suggests to Gomez that Henry is a frequent thief and perhaps not a good or dependable person. It’s difficult for Henry to develop positive and meaningful relationships with others when his condition forces him to do things that society considers taboo (like stealing).
Themes
Once they are seated at their table, Gomez asks Henry if he minds him smoking. Henry does, but he gives him permission to light his cigarette anyway. At first Gomez says he wants to know why Henry fought with Nick, but Henry soon realizes that Gomez is curious about other things. Gomez admits that he initially recognized Henry because he has a reputation for leaving broken women in his wake. Gomez wonders aloud why Ingrid recently tried to kill herself, why Henry’s age appears to shift both in person and in photos Clare has, and why Henry knows how to pick locks and beat people near to death.
It turns out that Gomez does recognize Henry despite Henry being eight years older than he was at the dinner party. And this passage also reveals why Gomez warned Clare to watch out for him: he has a reputation for treating women poorly. Given Ingrid’s suicide attempt, it seems that there’s truth to these rumors, though it could very well be that this is due to Henry’s time traveling making him unreliable and absent. This scene sheds light on how Henry’s condition complicates his ability to maintain friendships—when people know him for long enough, they start to catch onto the fact that his appearance and age seems to fluctuate.
Themes
Gomez waits silently as Henry eats. This Henry, visiting from the future, knows that Gomez will be instrumental in his survival for years to come. So, he tells Gomez the truth, starting with the events of that night. After, Henry asks Gomez how he knows Ingrid. Gomez explains that he knows Celia Attley, Ingrid’s best friend. Henry asks how Ingrid tried to kill herself this time. Gomez tells him, and Henry acknowledges that this would be her fourth attempt to die by suicide. She’ll finally succeed three years later.
Henry’s time traveling creates many issues for him, but it also gives him knowledge about the future he can use to make his life somewhat easier to navigate. Knowing that Gomez will be key to his survival (though Henry doesn’t reveal the specifics of this just yet) allows Henry to strategically ingratiate him to Gomez now. It also seems like a step in the right direction that Henry shares the truth about his condition with Gomez—it means he has one more person he can be himself around without having to make up a story to explain his bizarre absences. This might help him to feel more in the moment, something he desperately needs. The fact of Ingrid’s eventual suicide is troubling and suggests that, though Henry’s time traveling alienates him from most others, his behavior still affects others.
Themes
Gomez still struggles to believe the truth about Henry’s time travels, so Henry encourages him to ask Clare. Gomez admits that he has; Clare already confirmed everything. Gomez asks if they know each other in 2000, and Henry responds that they are “good friends.” He also gives Gomez a tip about investing in internet stocks. When Henry is hit with a wave of nausea, he makes Gomez follow him to the bathroom, then he vanishes. Henry reappears back in the present (2000), where he continues his work shift at the library as usual.
This passage marks another instance where Henry reveals knowledge about the future to another person, in this case advising Gomez on which stocks will make good investments. Though Henry values self-care and self-preservation, he also uses his unusual knowledge to help others.
Themes
Sunday, December 15, 1991 (Clare is 20). Clare arrives home from a night spent having sex with Henry. She finds Gomez smoking alone in her apartment. Clare is angry at him still for dinner weeks ago. He apologizes as soon as she comes in the door, recounting his night with Henry and Henry’s final disappearing act. They talk about the shock of Henry’s condition, and Clare is taken aback when Gomez begs her not to marry Henry. She reasserts her love for Henry, but Gomez is unmoved. He insists Henry is dangerous, though he admits that he likes him. Charisse comes home from church, interrupting their argument. Clare takes a bath and stews on both her conversation with Gomez and her deep-seated love for Henry.
Gomez’s plea to Clare not to marry Henry could come from a place of genuine care for her—he’s clearly seen how Henry’s unpredictability and behavior has hurt Ingrid and perhaps doesn’t want to see Clare end up hurt in that way. But Gomez has also shown signs of possible romantic feelings for Clare, and in this light, his plea comes across as far less honorable—perhaps he only wants Clare to break up with Henry so that he can be with her instead. Of course, if Henry’s knowledge of the future (and the novel’s stance that free will does not exist) is true, then Gomez’s plea to Clare won’t prevent Clare from marrying Henry anyway.
Themes
Saturday, December 22, 1991 (Henry is 28 and 33). Twenty-eight-year-old Henry’s apartment buzzer rings early in the morning; it’s an older version of himself traveling through time. Once older Henry gets inside, he asks younger Henry the date. He recognizes it as the evening of a particularly miserable night out. Both Henrys go back to bed, though the present version is fixated on watching his older self sleep. He considers that the short-haired, greying Henry beside him is a more familiar iteration of him to Clare, and he wonders if Clare is intentionally shifting the present version of Henry to become more the future version of Henry. He can’t fall back asleep, so he decides to go on a run. As he jogs in the cold, he begins to feel better.
Henry recognizes that this older version of him is much different from the person he is in the present, and he seems to attribute the change to Clare’s influence. Henry’s remark about having a miserable night out tonight suggests that present-day (younger) Henry is still struggling to be responsible and healthy person he needs to be to be a good partner to Clare. Despite Clare’s new presence in Henry’s life, it seems it will take more than her influence to change—he’ll need to start practicing self-care and working on himself, too. That he goes for a jog to cope with his anxiety (as opposed to drinking) suggests that he’s moving in the right direction.
Themes
Evening, the same day (Henry is 28, and 33, Clare is 20). Clare and present-day Henry make their way to a Violent Femmes concert. Clare waits in the balcony while Henry goes to get drinks. When he doesn’t return, Clare leaves to find him. Henry is mid-argument with a blond woman she later learns is Ingrid. Henry sees Clare and ushers her away with him as Ingrid watches. Back upstairs, Clare remembers the lipstick she found in Henry’s bathroom the first night she met him in the present. The music picks up, and they go down to the ballroom to dance.
Clare’s calm reaction to seeing Ingrid is quite different from her earlier reaction to seeing the lipstick in Henry’s apartment the first time they met. It shows that she’s becoming more emotionally mature and gradually learning to be grateful for her and Henry’s time together rather than fretting about his past. She’s growing more secure in their relationship.
Themes
When Clare takes a break from dancing, she finds Ingrid being consoled by a friend (Celia Attley) in the bathroom. The two women notice Clare, and the friend breaks away from Ingrid to warn her about Henry. She explains that he broke off an engagement with Ingrid after treating her badly for years. Clare, not knowing how to respond, leaves the bathroom abruptly. She lingers in the hallway, wondering if she should confront Henry or if it’s best to forget what happened before they met. Henry appears around the corner just then, interrupting Clare’s thoughts—but Clare can tell immediately it’s a version of Henry from the future. The welcome familiarity of his older self makes Clare cry.
If Clare had been feeling more secure and confident in her relationship with Henry, Celia’s warning instantly reverses all that progress. While both of Celia’s claims could be attributed to Henry’s time traveling, there’s still a chance that Henry treated Ingrid badly for reasons totally unrelated to his time traveling—and could treat Clare badly, too. And the fact that she cries at the welcome sight of older Henry suggests that she isn’t entirely happy with present-day Henry, who perhaps still possesses some of the negative traits that hurt Ingrid.
Themes
Older Henry comforts Clare and asks her what’s wrong. She explains what Ingrid’s friend said in the bathroom; Henry identifies the friend as Celia Attley. He tells Clare that he and Ingrid were never engaged, although he did treat her badly. Clare is still at a loss for how to move forward, but Henry encourages her to be patient. He explains that he will need her in the present to help him become the man she wants him to be, the man who she knows he will be in the future. She leaves the older version of Henry to go find his present self, who exists in the “here and now” and is waiting for her.
For better or for worse, the Henry that Clare has in the “here and now” is the emotionally underdeveloped and reckless person who is still figuring himself out. When Clare turns away from the older Henry she prefers and returns to the younger Henry she’s conflicted about, she’s choosing to live fully and intentionally in the present, funneling her energy into helping Henry to grow rather than daydreaming about a better version of him.
Themes
