How to Stop Time

Matt HaigFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Part 5, Chapters 4-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 5: “The Return”

Part 5, Chapter 4 Summary: “Dubai, Now”

On a layover in Dubai on his way to Sydney, Tom visits the airport shops. He is in a bad mood. He moves through the bookstore and finds Michel de Montaigne’s Essays. He picks it up thinking of Marion and opens to a random page. He reads “Nothing fixes a thing so firmly in the memory as the wish to forget it” (272). His phone beeps with a text from Omai confirming their dinner plans. Tom replaces the book and leaves the bookstore to wait for his flight.

Part 5, Chapter 5 Summary: “Plymouth, England, 1772”

After Tahiti, Tom returns to Plymouth. He admires a naval warship in the new dockyard. He runs into Furneaux, who offers him a place on another voyage, this time under Captain Cook’s command.

Part 5, Chapter 6 Summary: “Somewhere Above Australia, Now”

On a plane above Australia, Tom listens to a baby crying and thinks of Marion. A young couple in front of him reminds him of Camille. He contemplates her silence. He remembers that his mother told him to live. He senses life getting closer, finding Marion, seeing Omai again. He spends the rest of the flight dreaming of Omai, who dissolves like sand, and then of Marion, who also becomes sand. When he wakes, he has arrived.

Part 5, Chapter 7 Summary: “Huahine, Society Islands, 1773”

Second lieutenant Arthur Flynn of the Adventure hands out ribbons, miming tying his hair up with them to the little native children. He asks Tom for the beads. They pass out beads and ribbons as a peace offering. In the crowd, Tom sees a familiar face holding a wooden board used to ride waves. The man stares at Tom. Using hand signals, he gestures that he wants to go with Tom on the ship. Tom shares the request with Captain Cook and Furneaux.

Part 5, Chapter 8 Summary: “Pacific Ocean, 1773”

The man introduces himself in Tahitian as Omai. He attempts to teach Tom how to ride waves. Tom falls off a lot. Omai is a fast learner and quickly grasps English. Tom works with him reviewing nouns and verbs. He talks about Rose and Marion. In turn, Omai shares his worldview. He teaches Tom about a special supernatural power called mana that is found in everything and must be respected. He explains that mana lives in shadows. It is disrespectful to stand on a chief or leader’s shadow when first meeting. That is how Omai knows Tom is trustful. Tom didn’t stand on his shadow when they first met. He thinks Tom is like him—older than others. Finding another person with the same condition is like finding another survivor on a deserted island after spending decades stranded alone. In Tahiti Omai was seen as the special One, half-man half-god, a chief. However, after a while, some men grew tired of him being chief. Tom shares the truth about his mother’s death, Manning the witchfinder, and Marion being like them. Omai reassures that “people you love never die” (283). Tom confides that people won’t accept them in England either.

Part 5, Chapters 4-8 Analysis

With the recent revelation that Marion is missing from a mental hospital, Tom barely concentrates on the task at hand. During his layover in Dubai on his way to Australia, he grumpily browses an airport bookstore. Here he finds Marion’s favorite, Michel de Montaigne’s Essays. He reads, “Nothing fixes a thing so firmly in the memory as the wish to forget it” (272). This rings true of most of the events in Tom’s life. He wishes to forget things, but they haunt him instead. His mind never rests. Everything reminds him of something else. On the plane, a crying baby brings to mind baby Marion. A young couple recalls his newfound love with Camille. He dreams of Omai and Marion. Both crumble into sand and wash away in the ocean tide. Dreams symbolize the workings of the subconscious. The beach is a transitional place between rational and irrational. Both Omai and Marion are there one minute and become sand the next. Sand represents a shift in perspective. The sea that washes away the sand also brings in a new perspective and hope. Tom’s perspective is about to change. Omai and Marion will bring about hope and change.

In 1773, Tom takes another voyage, this time under the command of Captain Cook. Unlike Captain Wallis, Captain Cook has his men hand out ribbons and beads as a peace offering to the native inhabitants of the islands they visit. On one of these expeditions, Tom runs into Omai. This time Omai asks to join them and learns English. He and Tom become immediate friends, eventually realizing they share the slow-aging condition. In Omai’s world, he is seen as a god, but even gods can be outcast when they have been around too long. Tom shares his history with witchfinders and new identities. He talks about those he has lost. Omai, with all the wisdom of a philosopher, reassures him that “people you love never die” (283). They live on in the heart and mind through memories. Tom and Omai really are like survivors on a deserted island. Sharing the burden with another is freeing. Two are better than one.