A Tale for the Time Being Literary Elements

Psychological Fiction / Metafictional

The novel has two storylines with different settings. The first is set in Japan around 2001. The second is set in British Columbia, Canada in 2011.

It is narrated in first-person point of view from the perspective of Nao. Ruth’s part is written in third-person perspective.

Casual, Melancholic, Depressed

The protagonists are both Nao and Ruth while the antagonist is the feeling of isolation and depression they both experience.

Nao experiences a sense of loneliness after relocating to their homeland in Japan since she has a hard time assimilating into the culture. She contemplates suicide and chooses to find solace in writing a diary about the life of her great-grandmother. Ruth deeply connects with Nao’s past accounts in the diary as she also experiences a sense of isolation.

The climax of the novel occurs when Nao’s diary comes to a sudden halt and Ruth wonders about her fate and whether or not Nao is still alive.

“Because if you don’t have clear goals, you might run out of time, and when the day comes, you’ll find yourself standing on the parapet of a tall building, or sitting on your bed with a bottle of pills in your hand”

In the statement, Nao foreshadows the suicide attempts in her family including her own contemplations.

“The past is weird. I mean, does it really exist? It feels like it exists, but where is it? And if it did exists, but doesn’t now, then where did it go?”

The assertion is an understatement given the impact the past has on the lives of Nao and Ruth.

The novel alludes to historical events in the 21st century such as the dot-com bust that led to layoffs in the tech industry. The events in the novel are catalyzed by the occurrence of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami in Japan as it connects Nao’s world to Ruth’s.

“A tiny sparkle caught Ruth’s eye, a small glint of refracted sunlight angling out from beneath a massive tangle of drying bull kelp, which the sea had heaved up onto the sand at full tide.”

N/A

The novel parallels the two protagonists’ narratives as their worlds interrelate yet so far away in time and space. A suicidal teenage girl is experiencing depression and isolation akin to a writer going through writer’s block across the continent.

N/A

“Time itself is being…and all being is time”