How to Stop Time

Matt HaigFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Part 3, Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “Rose”

Part 3, Chapter 4 Summary: “London, now”

It is three o’clock in the morning. Tom can’t sleep. Instead, he watches documentaries and reads articles online. He eventually ends up on Twitter scrolling through strangers’ feeds. He moves to Google and searches for Marion but comes up empty. On Facebook, he likes a post from Camille: “Life is confusing” (132). He shuts everything off and finally joins Abraham in bed. Tom ponders how all the memories of happiness with Rose make him sad. It is better to be detached and not fall in love. Life really is confusing.

Part 3, Chapter 5 Summary: “London, 1599”

A liberty is an area beyond city walls where normal laws don’t apply. Anything goes—prostitution, bearbaiting, street performance, theater. It’s an area of freedom. Tom plays his lute in the liberty of Bankside. As a nobleman, playing music on the street is considered disgraceful. Tom plays anyway. By the end of the first day, Tom earns enough to pay for the damaged fruit basket. He becomes an “equal in the cottage, and part of the family” with a steady income (137).

One night, Grace requests lute lessons. She wants to learn her favorite songs, “Greensleeves” and “The Sweet and Merry Month of May” (137). They practice outside while Rose watches from the window. Weeks later, Rose enters Tom’s room and asks him to teach her, too. He anticipates sitting next to her, guiding her hands across the strings. They discuss music. Tom says, “[music] is about controlling time” (138). Rose comments that she wants to stop time sometimes and enjoy a happy moment longer, but they are at time’s mercy; they are the strings on time’s lute. Tom is blown away. Rose is a philosopher. Rose then says she wants Tom to stay with them indefinitely. He wants to tell her the truth about his condition. He tells her he can’t stay and can’t explain why. She sighs and asks if he has ever been kissed. Similar to music, a single kiss with the right person can stop time. Rose kisses Tom. In the midst of that kiss, Tom’s world steadies, and nothing exists but Rose.

Part 3, Chapters 4-5 Analysis

On another sleepless night, Tom browses the web. Not sure how else to look for Marion, he Googles different variations of her name. His attempt to search for her online shows that he actively thinks about her and wants to find her. All of his happy memories are tainted by the grief of loss. He misses those happy times, and thinking of them makes him sad. That sadness and pain is what Hendrich tries to avoid. Tom almost starts believing that life would be better without love and companionship. Camille sums it all up in her Facebook post: “Life is confusing” (132).

In 1599, Tom finds work in a liberty, where freedom reigns. Showing how far he has fallen from his nobleman status at birth, Tom plays music in the street for tips. It is not a noble profession, but it pays well. He pays back Rose and can now steady himself for the time being. They grow close over the music lesson. Music, to Tom, “is about controlling time” (138). He longs to physically control time and be free to age at a normal rate. Playing music is the only time when Tom is in complete control of time. Rose takes the analogy further by suggesting that they are the strings on time’s lute and therefore are at time’s mercy. No one can control time, not even in music. In this perfect moment, Tom wants to tell her the truth.