In Caitlyn’s post, she mentions that although the two stories begin 100 years apart, it is almost impossible to not read them as if they are happening simultaneously. The narratives are so in synch with each other in terms of dialogue and events that it is hard to image that they are two separate timelines. Hailey even incorporates Sam’s actions into her narrative and vice versa.

 

What I have come to conclude about this is that the actual events that occur in the novel are insignificant. Danielewski is just using Sam and Hailey’s story as a tool to get his message across, which is that time is irrelevant.  Therefore, it doesn’t matter that their times don’t match up. In life, there are always billions of things going on at any given moment, but regardless of what ups and downs occur, “life happens” (H97).Time is a continuous, analog stream of existence. Danielewski is stressing the idea that no matter what has happened and what is happening, time will continue to progress. If something bad happens, it isn’t the end of the world.

 

An example of this can be found when Hailey and Sam are in fairly critical condition. After randomly needing to be hospitalized, Danielewski mentions that “the wheels roll on” (S112). Despite nearly avoiding death, he simply shrugs it off as if it were no big deal. He is encouraging a positive outlook on life, one that doesn’t dwell on the negatives in life, but instead looks to the future in a positive manner.

 

Other cues that represent the idea of a continuous circle of life are brutally obvious in the structure of the book. Aside from the obvious flipping of the physical book in order to read it, I noticed that if you skim through the pages quickly like a flipbook, the page numbers revolve around. This further reinforces the theme that there is no distinct stopping and ending point; life just keeps going in circles.

The media clip that I chose is just a video of Earth Rotating.  I think this demonstrates Danielewski’s message because regardless of what happens on Earth, it will keep rotating.  Time doesn’t stop for any tragedies, so it is best to just move forwards rather than feel sorry for yourself.  Tragedies, joys, failures, etc are just part of the cycle of life.