How to Stop Time

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.