Character Profiles

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Henry DeTamble

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION 

Henry is about 186 cm tall, has black hair and green eyes.  The reader doesn't actually get to know that much more than that. Most of his appearance you get described when he compares himself to his daughter, Alba.

DESCRIPTION OF HIS PERSONALITY 

The first thing you get to know about Henry is that he has an extremely rare genetic condition called Chrono-Displacement disorder. It makes him travel to different times and places of his life, like his teenage years or to when he is an adult etc. and he has no control over it what so ever.

Now over to his personality: Henry is very athletic and loves running. He says that it calms his nerves, which is good, since he tends to travel in time less when he is calm and not feeling stressed.

Both Henry’s parents are/were Jewish and professional musicians, but surprisingly, Henry ends up atheist and tone-deaf. He has always been a realist and very clever.

WHAT IS HIS IMPORTANCE IN THE STORY? 

Basically the book is not about time traveling, its focus is really on Clare’s and Henry’s relationship. The book is a metaphor for struggling/long distance relationships, so it wouldn't change the story if Henry would instead of time traveling for example have a job in a different city far away from Clare. The story is basically a metaphor for that type of long distance relationship that everyone goes through at some point of their lives. In that relationship there are usually two main characters: the one who leaves and the one that is left behind and has to wait for the other person to come back. In this story Henry is the character that has to leave and that’s his importance to the story. Depending on what role you've played in that kind of relationship you can relate more to Clare or Henry.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CHARACTER? DO YOU LIKE THEM? WHY/WHY NOT? 

Believe it or not, I have actually never liked Henry that much. …But to be fair, I think that it is because he is the character with the weakest personality. Usually in books as long as this, you have gotten to know the main characters inside out, but this is not the case for me with Henry. I for example never think to myself while reading: “that is such a typical thing for Henry to do”, which is a bit sad and disappointing since Henry is one of the main characters in this book. Getting to know the characters is just as important as getting to know the story.

Another reason why it is harder to get to know Henry than other characters is probably because we see him in all of these different ages in random orders, so it can be difficult to follow his time line and character developmental  so that sometimes when he travels in time he can be a completely different person, which can be confusing and makes me unsure about who he really is as a person. It is possible though to see how he matures through the story, but it is a little bit trickier and takes longer time to understand his changes than with other characters. 

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Clare Abshire

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION.

Since this story skips in time a lot, and because everyone's appearance changes with time I'm just going talk about how Clare looks like when she's in her young adult years, when she is about 20. 

According to the second protagonist, Henry, Clare is very beautiful. She has long, red hair and big, gray eyes. She also has a very small mouth and a long nose. 

DESCRIPTION OF THEIR PERSONALITY

As a child, when Henry first meets her, Clare is a nice, Christian, six-year old girl who goes to church every Sunday. But as she grows older and spends more time with Henry her opinions and values evolve and changed a lot and she becomes more independent and open-minded. 

She has always been very artistic and actually grows up to become an artist. She is also very kind and truthful, which Henry says comes from her time as a Catholic.

WHAT IS HER IMPORTANCE IN THE STORY?

Clare is one of the two main characters of the story together with Henry. She is the girl who through the entire story holds on to and waits for her husband to come back.

The author, Audrey Niffeneger, said once that the novel is a metaphor for long distance relationships and that it was inspired by the one that she had her self. I think that Niffeneger sees Clare in herself.

Depending on what type of person you are or what life experiences you have you will look at the two main characters in different ways, and usually the one that you can feel for and relate to more is the one that you see as the most important or the main character. Some people would maybe say that Clare isn't that important, and that it could have been anybody, but the deeper you get into the book the more you start to understand the characters. There is something about her fighter-spirit that makes her really likable.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CHARACTER? DO YOU LIKE THEM? WHY/WHY NOT?

Personally, I really like Clare and I find her really interesting, because ever since she meets Henry she knows that her future is already set up and she knows that whatever she does she can’t change it. And even though she knows all of this she still keeps herself calm and tries to live normally. Most people would have freaked out knowing this or getting depressed, feeling that if everything is already planned and that nothing maters anymore. That’s why I like Clare so much, because she is so strong.

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Charisse Bonavant

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION.

Charisse is a short, curvy Filipino girl with a very kind face and long black hair.

DESCRIPTION OF THEIR PERSONALITY

Charisse seems overall to be a fun and outgoing person. She also seems to be very fun to be around, since she always drops funny comments. Henry referred to her once as a "Filipino Madonna".

WHAT IS HER IMPORTANCE IN THE STORY?

She is not one of the main characters. She is Clare's roommate and Gomez's girlfriend and later - wife. When the reader meets her for the first time at her and Clare's place she seems happy and problem free, but later we get to know that Gomez loves Clare, and Charisse knows it. 

Even though she knows Gomez will never love her, at least not as he loves Clare, she marries him and haves kids with him. So it is like a love triangle between Clare, Henry and Gomez, where Charisse is the victim who has to suffer the most.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CHARACTER? DO YOU LIKE THEM? WHY/WHY NOT?

Personally Charisse is my absolute favorite character. She is such a strong person. Through the story she knows that her husband loves her best friend more than her, but she stays in the relationship and she stays friend with Clare and hides all of her pain. I think most people wouldn't have the strength to do that.

Charisse must be that in love with him, that she accepts the fact that she is the second choice. Some people say that it is stupid of her and that she should leave him. I think that she would be better off without Gomez and Clare, since both of them goes behind her back after Henry's death and cheats on her. After everything Charisse ever has done for Clare, she goes and has sex with Charisse’s husband, Gomez. I understand that Clare was devastated after her husband’s death, but to do something like that to her best friend who is already in such a pain so awful and egoistic. Even after that Charisse stays by Clare’s side, and yes, it might be considered stupid, but it is also being a loyal friend, something Clare never really was to her. That’s why she is my favorite character.