Innocence and Children in the Time Travellers Wife

835 Words4 Pages
Throughout Niffenegger’s novel The Time Travellers Wife, we see many themes. One of the main themes of the novel is the theme of innocence and child-like behaviour. Through pages 37 to 40 of the novel Clare meets Henry for the first time in the meadow. Henry describes their first encounter from his own view. “Clare bursts into the clearing” the verb ‘bursts’ portrays Henry’s view of Clare’s innocence and excitement as a child going to her ‘favourite secret spot’. The noun phrase of a ‘favourite secret spot’ provides a very childlike and innocent image of a small child hiding away to play. Niffenegger uses asyndetic listing of all Clare's creative possessions “Clare spreads the towel on the ground and dumped out the contents of the bag...” This asyndetic listing creates the idea that because Clare is a child she has many materialistic possessions. When Clare has noticed Henry and they have first interacted, the innocence and inquisitive side of her as a child is shown as she shouts “Give me back my shoes. I dont know you. Why are you hiding?” This shows that like a child she is scared but the interrogative 'why are you hiding?' suggests she is more inquisitive as she is still discovering the world. Henry describes Clare “like a really pissed off goose” This extended imagery adds to the child's feisty character and emphasises the portrayal of her small stature. Clare's interrogative attitude continues through her and Henry's encounter as she questions his story. Her innocence is highlighted entirely when she uses the simple sentence “Do you know Santa?” The topic of Santa massively highlights Clare's age and her innocence because adults, teenagers and even older children realise that Santa isn’t real. Also as it is written in a simple sentence said as a short question, it shows how a child’s mind can not often think about more than one thing for too long.

More about Innocence and Children in the Time Travellers Wife

Open Document