Genre
inspirational fiction
Setting and Context
"The dawn of man's history/the present day/the future (When Victor should have been resurged). "Places" - the cave; Victor's, Dor's, Sarah's environments.
Narrator and Point of View
The author uses the third-person narration, but Dor, Sarah, Victor, the main protagonists, are so "opened" for the reader, the author shows their feelings, thoughts so vividly, that it seems that actually they are the narrators of the story.
Tone and Mood
Melancholy, despair and sadness and well as hope and appreciation are some of the tones that cover the spectrum of the book.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Dor is the man protagonist. Time is the main antagonist.
Major Conflict
This arises when Sarah decides to kill herself and Victor decided to freeze his body which results in unhappiness from his wife.
Climax
For takes back Sarah and Victor to a time where both get what they wished for and both then realize the impact of their action and resolve to appreciate the time by having another chance to appreciate it.
Foreshadowing
The terminal illness that Victor has implies that he will attempt to cheat death and evade using up all his time. Also, Sarah's family situation and humiliation is a strong foreshadowing of her despair having reached a level that has her contemplating suicide.
Understatement
Both Victor and Sarah understate the impact of their actions and behave very selfishly, thinking their actions will have little affect on their loved ones.
Allusions
The author alludes to Bible: the story about Babylon is embodied in Nim's Tower.
Imagery
The imagery of the cave suggest desolation and regret for Dor's actions whereas the contrast with the present day immediately brings life back to is character.
Paradox
The paradox arises when Dor invents the clock and he is then met by God, who embodies a timeless being. The juxtaposition of these two things implies the battle between man and universe.
Parallelism
Parallels are drawn between Dor and the two characters he helps, as he has been in a similar situation where he tries to control time or change the way time exists as.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The author often uses "voices" instead of people themselves: Father Time never sees people in his cave, he just always hears their voices there.
Personification
The clock is a personification of time. It is mans version of how time has been manipulated and controlled by humans.
