How to Stop Time

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Part 5, Chapters 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 5: “The Return”

Part 5, Chapter 11 Summary: “Byron Bay, Australia, Now”

Hendrich pours gasoline on Omai’s house. Tom yells for him to stop, arguing Omai isn’t a threat. Hendrich proclaims they need to protect themselves, but Tom no longer buys that excuse. He mentions Hendrich’s lies and keeping Marion a secret. Burning houses doesn’t keep people safe. Hendrich claims Berlin and the biotech companies are stronger than ever. There will always be superstition and lies and witch hunts. He pulls a lighter from his pocket and flicks on the flame. Tom screams for Omai to get out of the house. Everything begins to collide. Marion arrives, commanding Hendrich to stop. Omai, carrying his daughter, steps outside. Marion shoots Hendrich in the shoulder. He pours the gasoline over himself and lights it. He walks toward the seaside cliff. They watch in silence as Hendrich disappears over the edge.

Part 5, Chapter 12 Summary: “London, Now”

Marion accompanies Tom to London. Tom learns she spent time in Scotland, Canada, and France. She was a weaver back then. She talks about her depression, panic attacks, and the antidepressants she takes. Tom types up an email to one of the biotech companies, StopTime. He attaches the photo from Ciro’s and a present-day selfie but saves the email as a draft.

Tom tells Marion about Camille and how he messed things up. Marion advises that he be honest with her. Tom asks if she has anyone. She admits there were a few over the years, but she is better off alone. She’s happier by herself. Marion shows Tom her tattoo dedicated to him: a tree on her shoulder with the words “Under the Greenwood Tree” written underneath. She doesn’t plan on staying in London long. There are too many memories. She prefers the quiet Shetland Islands surrounded by nature where time doesn’t move. Tom thinks about the future and considers that “at some point you have to accept that you don’t know. You have to stop flicking ahead and just concentrate on the page you are on” (319).

Tom cycles to school and waves to Anton. He enjoys teaching. Tom reflects on how uncertain life is; he can think about the familiar past, but he can’t revisit it. His headache is gone. Tom is determined to live in the open. He approaches Camille in the staff room to explain everything.

Part 5, Chapter 13 Summary: “La Forêt de Pons, France, the Future”

Two years later, Camille and Tom walk Abraham among the beech trees of the forest. Tom admits to still being scared of time. Camille thinks it’s strange how much time he spends worrying about the future. She places his hand on her belly. He feels the baby kick. Camille quotes Fitzgerald: “You are no longer insulated; but I suppose you must touch life in order to spring from it” (324). Tom mentions meeting him once and drops a few other names as well. Camille changes the subject and asks about baby names. She likes Sophie Rose—Sophie after her grandmother and Rose after the flower and Tom’s first wife. Camille thinks Rose helped Tom become who he is; she wants to honor that. They kiss. Tom meditates on the idea that “there is only one present. Just as every object on earth contains similar and interchanging atoms, so every fragment of time contains aspects of every other” (325). He is no longer fearful of the future. The future resides in his new daughter.

Part 5, Chapters 11-13 Analysis

As Hendrich drenches Omai’s house in gasoline, taking matters into his own hands, Tom confronts Hendrich about everything: the fear and manipulation of society members, the secret whereabouts of Marion, and the posed threats of outsiders. Tom now knows there’s another way—hope, love, and acceptance. Hendrich has no defense; he hides behind mortal superstition. Humans will always fear the unknown and abnormal. They will always seek to abolish it through witch hunts or corrupt it through scientific experiments. He repeats that they need to protect themselves. Omai is a threat to their existence and therefore must die.

Tension rises as the narrative reaches the crescendo. Each point of crisis culminates to bring about a speedy resolution. Omai opens his door, holding his aged daughter. Marion appears, gun pointed at Hendrich. Tom yells at Hendrich to stop. Hendrich flicks on a lighter. Before he can light the house, however, Marion shoots him in the shoulder. It is Marion, not Tom, who takes him down. Marion sees Hendrich as a compilation of everyone who ever hurt her family. He is the reason they were kept apart. In a last effort of control, Hendrich responds by lighting himself on fire. He staggers toward the seaside cliff and disappears over the edge. He guarantees that his body won’t be discovered and used for science. In the end, he still fears the institute more than death.

Everything else quickly resolves itself. Omai stays in Australia with his daughter. Tom and Marion return to London. Demonstrating his acceptance and willingness to live without fear, Tom writes an email to one of the biotech companies researching how to stop time. He may send it one day, but for now the draft is enough to face his fear. Marion stays with Tom for a few days before heading off to her own place in the Shetland Islands. Before leaving, though, Marion and Tom finally catch up, sharing stories of their lives. Marion shows Tom her tattoo of a tree with “Under the Greenwood Tree” written underneath. She chose it as a memorial to Tom. Here again, music plays an important role. Their mutual love of music draws them back together. She advises Tom to be honest with Camille. Tom finally realizes that the future is unknown. Change is inevitable. At school, Tom seeks out Camille and explains everything.

Tom’s character development reaches a new threshold two years later. He and Camille are together in France. While walking Abraham through a forest, Camille places Tom’s hand on her pregnant belly to feel the baby kicking. Quoting Fitzgerald, she says, “You are no longer insulated; but I suppose you must touch life in order to spring from it” (324). Tom is no longer insulated by fear and the Albatross Society. He must experience life anew. With the wisdom of Rose continuing to guide him, Tom concludes that the future resides in his unborn daughter; there is no reason to fear it.