The Time Traveler´s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger (First Blog)

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Summary-  This novel is about the struggles of a relationship of a men named Henry with a women named Clare. Henry started suffering from a genetic disorder called Chrono-Displacement at the age of five. He time travels into the past and present, but he has no control over where and when he travels which can be dangerous. He cant travel with any items and he always ends up naked at his destination. Clare meets him when she is six years old and Henry is 36.  She meets him while he is time travelling so Henry doesn't really meet her in real time. In real time Henry is just 8 years older than Clare. Henry meets Clare at the meadow near her house at many different times. When Clare is a little girl she doesn't really care much about Henry, but she starts having feelings for him as she grows older.

           The older Henry that time travels into her childhood knows that they are going to get married, but he chooses not to tell her until she is a teenager. He says that it's better for people not to know what is going to happen in the future or else they will feel like they have no free-will. He also learned that he can't really change the past and that it is best not to. Henry and Clare meet in the present when he is 28 and Clare is 20 years old in 1991. The last time Henry (from the future) had met Clare at the meadow was two years ago and he was 43 years old. On day Clare runs into him in the library where he works, but Henry does not recognize her, because Henry goes to her past when she is older. Clare shows Henry the book she has with all the dates that they have met and they end up being lovers. Clare's life was always intertwined with Henry's. She always waited for him and only dated a few times, while he was living in the present not knowing that she existed.
            Then one day Clare introduces Henry to her friends for the first time. He meets Gomez and Charisse. Gomez warns Clare about Henry, because he has seen in bars with women. Gomez also notices that Clare had a picture of Henry before they even met and that he looks older in the picture compared to the day that Gomez and Henry met. It also seem that Gomez may have feelings for Clare. Henry also reveals to Gomez that he times travels.

Quote-  " I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going."     (X Niffeneger)
                
Reaction-   At first reading this was kind of confusing, because Henry is always time traveling but now I understand the reading better. I like how time traveling acts like a metaphor in this book, because it can be represent absence and fate. It is like Clare and Henry were meant to be together, because Clare practically knows Henry for her whole life and she knows a lot about him. Another I like is how the novel isn't just told from one point of view. Some parts are told by Clare's point of view and others by Henry. This allows me to get a better view of what is happening and not just from one point of view. There is also a lot of foreshadowing and other literary devices used. For example Clare is an artist and she work has to do with birds and longing. When I read this I immediately thought that the birds were a symbol of Clare's relationship with Henry. Henry "flies" away in time out of the blue and birds always fly and migrate. While Henry is gone she is always longing for him and trying to distract herself with work.
                 The quote above sums up what Henry goes through. He is always time travelling and he usually goes to important events. He usually finds himself in Clare's childhood and adolescence since meeting her was a big event in  his life. Henry would rather be in the present with Clare, but he is always leaving and she stays. He faces many problems when he time travels. This quote also shows how much Henry loves Clare. There is times where Henry has to steal food and beat up people for clothes, because he can;t carry anything when he is time travelling. I also think that Gomez acts like a FOIL, because his character is completely different from Henry. Gomez is normal and for some reason I think he also has feelings for Clare. He is probably a character in the novel to show what Clare could have if Henry did not exist.