Chapter six of the time travellers wifeBaby Dreams Page (351-370)

Saturday, June 3, 2000 (Clare is 29, Henry is 36)

Here at the beginning of this chapter Clare is frustrated when trying for a child. This turns to anger when Henry suggests that it is better they do not try for one anymore, “Five pregnancies... I know you want to try again, but I cant. I cant take it anymore.”

When Henry speaks we get the feeling that he is very upset “...” almost as though he is searching for lost words. Clare is what is important to Henry we know this because he says “next time you

miss-carry it's going to kill you.” Henry doesn't want to go through with it feeling as though he is hurting Clare. And the pain she feels mentally and physically through miscarriages.

However here Clare is the narrator so we are reading her views and feeling. “Knows that he cant touch me” Clare holds the power in this argument. Henry wont touch Clare because he knows how angry she is. “Keep the anger that rises up in my

throat from spilling into my words.” Clare is trying to control her anger. We understand that Clare and Henry are both in pain

from these miscarriages both for different reasons. The paragraph ends with Clare talking to her future child in her head.

You get the feeling of Clare's desperate need to be a mother.

Friday, June 9, 2000/ November 19, 1986 (Henry is 36, Clare is 15) Henry decides that there is no way he can watch Clare suffer and goes to get a

vasectomy. Henry becomes very nervous he has not told Clare were he is going. Many concrete nouns are used, this creates a more realistic

atmosphere in the readers mind as Henry describes the clinic. He tries to convince himself that he is not a traitor. “I am doing it because I love her.”

Then the words are used to create a graphical image, “I think of Clare covered in blood, weeping, and I feel sick.” This makes us sympathise with

Henry.However Henry gets nervous and travels back to 1986.

He reaches the meadow and dresses. There Clare has run to find Henry She is ill but has made the effort to see him.

Henry is angry and confused he cant talk to Clare about it, but wants to. In anger and confusion he kisses her “roughly.” Putting his feelings into his kiss.

Clare backs away telling him that is the first time he has kissed her. “Oh no,” is all Henry can say, as he feels guilty.

Clare narrator- When Henry is back he doesn't talk much and keeps to himself. The first thing he does is apologise to Clare for when he first kissed her. The guilt still lingering. There is a peaceful feeling in the room, it is different as |Clare and Henry are not arguing becoming “tired.” Clare tells Henry that he can get a vasectomy. She thinks of it as him winning. However he feels as

though it is necessary.

Baby Dreams September 2000, (Clare is 29)

Clare begins to dream about children. This dream has the graphic image of blood growing. You get the impression that blood is a metaphor for

her children's death.

She is pregnant for the sixth time. Clare is worried she has lost the baby. Descries life as “thick and dense,” this reflects Clare's depressed

mood. She begins asking questions to herself to the baby within her. “Hello? Are you there?”

She feels as though she cannot find the baby. She goes to the study and begins to draw a heart. The babies heart.

A lonely atmosphere is created here one that clings to the book and is described in different ways.

She has a miscarriage. She “picks him up.” she does it because this baby meant something to her. As it was part of her and in a way it still

is. “Drowning on air,” get the feeling of the babies pain as well. Metaphor as she describes the baby as a sea creature. Poisoned by

air. She begins to pray to god. For the babies life? But it is dead.

Thursday December 28, 2000 (Henry is 33 and 37, Clare is 29.)

Henry when he is 33. Finds himself in the room where he and Clare are sleeping. Clare awakes and sees Henry. He has a longing and desire for her. They sleep together.

Clare realises there are two Henry's she accepts it. And in that moment Henry “Loves her more than life.”

Monday, February 12, 2001 (Henry is 37, Clare is 29)

Clare finds herself pregnant and confused. Henry remembers it was years ago that they slept together however for Clare it was only weeks ago. “I force a smile.” For many people this is a happy moment,but you can feel the pain this is causing them both. This is a painful moment as Clare feels she could miscarry again. She doesn't want that. She becomes a “little teary” Henry's throat “contracts.” He has to turn away.

Tuesday, February 20, 2001 (Clare is 29, Henry is 37)Clare throws up in the morning. Henry wonders if that is okay since she has not done that

in the other pregnancies. You begin to wonder whether this is a good sign, whether Henry and Clare will have a chance for a child.

Thursday, April 19 2001 (Henry 37, Clare is 29)Ultrasound. Clare is eighteen weeks pregnant. “we live in a state of holding breath, afraid to exhale for fear of breathing the baby out too

soon.” This shows how worried they are, not quite wanting to believe it will work out right. “Clare and I exhale,” now a relief for them both as they release this breath they have been holding for a long time and

slight weight off the readers shoulders. They describe the baby on the scan as a galaxy; this makes you think of how beautiful it is for them.

Monday, August 20, 2001 (Clare is 30, Henry 38)

Baby is due in two weeks. In the last part of the chapter the two decide on a name for the baby. Henry wants something different. And they want it too it means something special to them. Like a clean slate. This baby is the one that will bring them happiness, after the other

miscarriages. “Alba,”

“A white city. An impregnable fortress on a white hill.”“She'll like it.”

The baby “Kicks hard” where Henry's hand is and he is “amazed.” Connecting with the baby, she is really special to them she is their

“happy accident.”

Some questions to think about:

At the start of the chapter Henry has given up on trying for a child and goes to get a vasectomy,Does he come across as selfish? Or is it for Clare's benefit?

Clare is desperate to be a mother and becomes angry that she is not pregnant:How do you think the author creates a lonely atmosphere?

Before Alba is born Clare and Henry say they need a “clean slate.”What do you think they mean by that?