The role of time
In this section of the study guide, we discuss the role of time in the short story along with two other related themes.
Time is probably the most important theme in the short story. The author makes references to the passage of time when she describes Pia’s middle-age crisis and when she presents the scientific “revolution in physics” ( l. 5). The piece of news related to the “neutrinos – ghostly subatomic particles” ( l. 5) influences Pia’s actions and thoughts. As the newsreader presents the ab…
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The middle-age crisis
One of the most important themes of the story is the middle-age crisis. Pia admits to herself “I am middle-aged (...) and want not to be” ( ll. 60-61). This moment is not, however, a moment of acceptance; on the contrary, it is a moment of desperation that causes Pia to make hasty decisions that will eventually lead to the accident.
For Pia, the middle-age crisis means that she feels she has nothing to expect. She is exhausted by the “feeling that everything worth happening had already…
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Death
'The theme of time can also be correlated with the concept of death. There are many references to death and ghosts in the short story:
- “She was dying, really, to be at home” ( l. 27)
- “The newsreader kept on using the word ghostly, which Pia found odd, since it seemed to suggest a life, a death, and a botched resurrection” ( ll. 7-9)
- “Pia, at forty, raced toward her grave” ( ll. 43-44)
- “She ghosted back through memory” ( l. 84)
- “Particles ghosted through these lips, both his and hers” ( l. 114)
On the one hand, the adjective “ghostly” used to describe neutrinos is wel…
