How to Stop Time

Matt Haig

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Symbols & Motifs

Music

Early on in the story, Tom expresses his love for music. Music is a motif connecting Tom to his mother, who plays the lute and sings French songs. After her death, her lute is the only thing Tom takes with him. Music draws him closer to Rose and later Camille; it additionally mends the rift between him and Marion. Music is the language of Tom’s soul, as illustrated by the songs he plays at the bar. Each song reinforces different eras of his life. “Greensleeves” and “Under the Greenwood Tree” are from his time with Rose, Grace, and Shakespeare. Liszt’s Liebestraum evokes the time period of Dr. Hutchinson. Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” stems from Tom’s days playing piano in Paris. Music, according to Tom, “is about controlling time” (138). Playing music is the only time when Tom feels in control. In reality, however, we are all at time’s mercy. Haig introduces the analogy, through Rose, that they are the strings on time’s lute. Haig uses music to reinforce the theme of finding happiness. Tom is most content when playing or listening to music.

Headaches

Both Tom and Omai reference the headaches accompanying memories. Tom, throughout most of the story, suffers from a headache. Tom describes it as “sometimes it is almost not there, while at other times that is all there is, and the pain always coincides with memories. It is less a headache and more a memory ache. A life ache” (45). Omai confesses to having headaches when he thinks about his late wife. Hendrich reassures Tom that “we all get them towards our middle years. It’s memory pain. You just need to be careful. Modern life doesn’t help” (73). Haig pairs these headaches with memories to emphasize the pain of living in the past. Viewed in this manner, Tom’s headaches become a motif supporting the central ideas of accepting change and finding happiness in the present. His headaches disappear only after he faces the truth and starts existing in the open.

Elizabethan Coin

Marion earns a penny for playing her tin pipe at the market, and it immediately becomes her lucky coin. When Tom leaves the family, Marion gives him her lucky coin to remind him of her. He carries it with him always as one of his most valued possessions. The coin becomes a symbol of hope and love. Tom frequently holds it and thinks about Marion. When they are finally reunited, Marion, brainwashed by Hendrich into believing the worst of Tom, is angry and hurt thinking he abandoned her and wants her dead. Tom takes the coin from his wallet to show her. He says, “This here, this penny, it gave me hope. It kept me alive. I wanted one day to return it to you” (303). The coin is proof that Tom loves her. While Tom carries the coin, he has hope of reuniting with his daughter. Haig uses the coin to give Tom a physical representation of hope, something concrete he can see and touch. The coin makes hope real and attainable.