Passage of Time

Pages 197-217
References to the passage of the day:

• 'Early the day following'

Markers in the year:

• 'Three days. Four.'

Passages in which narrative time is telescoped:

• 'The following day'

Points at which narrative time expands:

• P.g. 197- 'When three men stepped from behind a truck'- time expands because there is suddenly a lot more detail than the narrator usually gives; this is because it's a tense, potentially dangerous situation but also could be because it's a break from their monotonous daily lives, so every moment is taken in.

References to before:

• P.g. 199- The man dreams of the past in which he visited a half destoyed library.

Points at which time is suspended:

• During the mans dreams on p.g. 199.

Abstract references to time:

• 'They had not gone far'- The novel's characters use distance instead of time as a way to measure their progress, since time is now meaningless but their journey is vital to their survival.