Theme

The author, Audrey Niffenegger, uses different themes through out the novel to portray the feeling and connection between characters. She is intending to communicate the bond between two people who are so different and how they are meant to be together because of their differences. By using the themes of love and family and marriage the author is guiding us through their life together. Imagery and setting are two main literary devices that are coming up a lot in the novel. By using imagery, the author really puts a picture in the readers mind about what is happening and what she is trying to express through the characters. By using descriptive words, it really helps picture what is being read. Setting is a main literary device because the setting changes so frequently in the novel. The setting can set a certain mood in that particular chapter and move the story in a direction that the author wants in to go.    

Love: The theme of love is expressed between the two characters Henry and Clare in many different ways. The sacrifices they both have to make for each other shows the connection that they share. There is also the physical love that they share throughout the novel and is mentioned more during the present time. The author shows that with a love this strong, the characters can overcome anything and be together forever, despite the time travel. [Henry:] “This is why I love to be drawn by Clare: when she looks at me with that kind of attention, I feel that I am everything to her.” They have grown up together and watched each other grow into who they become in the present.

Time: The theme of time is one of the most important one in the novel. For Henry, past, present, and future happen in the same time, while Clare only experiences time in the present. When she waits for Henry, time seems to move more slowly. When he's with her, it seems to proceed much faster. They have known one another their whole lives and had to wait for each other. Henry was in the future and had to wait for Clare to grow up while Clare was a young girl and had to wait for Henry to come back to visit her. “I keep myself busy. Time goes faster that way.”