A Tale For The Time Flood Analysis

A Tale for the Time Being centers around three significant disasters. One of them is human-made and the other two are “natural” disasters. The three disasters are the 9/11 attack, the earthquake that hit Japan in 2011, and the tsunami of 2011 that soon followed. These three disasters affect Nao and Ruth as a result of them being connected to America and Japan. All three disasters connect Nao and Ruth, however the most crucial one is that of the tsunami. It constantly looms over the narration of the story. The tsunami signifies a future disaster for Nao and a past disaster for Ruth; however, it is the factor that brings them together. Although the tsunami is a “natural” disaster and is depicted as such there is an alternative meaning for it …show more content…
In the aftermath of the tsunami it is possible that the waves carried the diary out to Canada. It also constantly motivates Ruth to defy time. Ruth is worried for Nao’s safety because she knows that where Nao lives the tsunami hit. Therefore, as Ruth reads Nao’s diary she is reading about past events in Nao’s life. By writing the diary Nao is reaching into the future and Ruth is reaching into the past. The tsunami is a constant event that cannot be altered. No matter at what point in time one is, the tsunami will happen or has happened. It is all a matter of when a person will reach the point in time the tsunami hit. Thus, Nao will experience the tsunami while Ruth knows of it. Ruth lives in the present knowing future events in Nao’s life but she is able to touch the past at a time before anyone knew of the tsunamis existence. The tsunami provides that portal which allows Ruth to walk along the lines of the past and present before and after the tsunami hit. As we reach the fantastical portion of the novel we read instances in which Ruth defies time and steps into the past to change the