Another place another time analyzing the text

Answers

1. The title directly reveals the character’s interest in time and its

interplay with place. These ideas are further developed in the first

paragraph of the story, when we see that Gilbert is keenly aware

that time seems to move more quickly in some places than others.

Gilbert’s interest in the interplay between space and time is one of

his primary motivations.

2. Words used to describe time include tyrant, crawled, whipped,

eternity, flashing instant. These descriptions suggest that time—or

at least our perception of it—is imposed upon us and entirely

outside our control. It is part of the nature of humanity to be caught

in time.

3. Einstein claimed that time was similar to space, implying that one

might travel back in time. At the beginning of the story this is an

interesting idea to Gilbert, but his father’s death further increases

its appeal. If Gilbert could travel backward in time, he might be

with his father—and his mother-once more.

4. Gilbert feels trapped in and by time. His observation that the rails

limit the children’s movements through space helps reiterate his

understanding of time. It also sets up a clear point of reference for

the following section in which the bounds of both space and time

fall away.

5. Gilbert is still struggling to come to terms with his father’s death.

He wants to see his father again, and in these lines we see his

belief that this may be possible.

6. Symbol: handcar; What it represents (in outer ovals of web):

freedom, power, self-directed movement, hope, determination. The

handcar symbolizes the children’s newfound ability first to

determine their own direction in space from just two choices and

later to determine their own direction through both time and space

from an unlimited list of possibilities. The handcar symbolizes

freedom from the bounds of both space and time.

Hope THAT HELPSS!