16 pages • 32 minutes read
Natasha TretheweyTheories of Time and Space
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2006A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Time, Space, and Home
“Theories of Time and Space” reflects upon the nature of human reality and the passage of time; in the poem, Trethewey poses this question: If places and people familiar in memory are constantly changing over time, can we ever really return “home”? In fact, what exactly is “home,” when places are constantly changing over time? Who are “you,” if “you” is ever changing? Trethewey’s “Theories of Time and Space” speculates as to the fluid nature of identity and place. As the speaker journeys to their hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi, the trail is at once familiar—and also not: “Everywhere you go will be somewhere / you’ve never been” (Lines 3-4). Although the speaker describes a route “home” that is obviously familiar to them in some way, the implication is that the road traversed is never the same road. Landmarks change, the person making the journey changes and is therefore no longer the same person who made the journey the first time, and the place itself—home in this case—once found, will also not really be “home” as it was.
The main theme of “Theories of Time and Space” is revealed at the opening of the poem: “You can get there from here, though / there’s no going home” (Lines 1-2). Although people can look at photos or revel in memories or even travel physically to a place that holds special meaning, “home” is more than a specific geographical point, and eventually, all people will leave “home” one day without realizing that they will not be able to return because the natural progression of time and change has altered the reality beyond familiar recognition.
The Weight of Human Memory
In Trethewey’s “Theories of Time and Space,” there is a meeting of two opposing forces: reality and memory. The speaker, like many others, seeks to find a place that exists—outside of time and space—in human memory. The conflict in the poem comes from the seeking. The speaker is drawn down a familiar road towards home: “head south on Mississippi 49, one— / by—one mile markers ticking off / another minute of your life” (Lines 5-7). It is clear, by the tone of speaker’s description, that this journey is a familiar one they have made multiple times. However, ultimately, the speaker declares that “its natural conclusion” is a “dead end” (Line 8).
The conflict between the speaker’s memory of a place and the reality of the place after time and change lies in the fact that the “home” from memory, if it ever really existed at all, is gone and cannot be reached again: a dead end. Memory is described by the speaker as something that is vital and impossible to lose, “what you must carry—tome of memory,” (Line 15) implying that memory is something that is carried always, whether or not it is wanted, and regardless of its weight. By describing memory as a “tome” (Line 15), the speaker also suggests that memory is heavy; it is the thing that constantly leads people to try to attain the unattainable. However, in the concluding lines of the poem, Trethewey writes, “—who you were— / will be waiting when you return” (Lines 19-20). The poem’s ending suggests that memory is itself capable of longevity. The memory of what was will always remain, even after the person or place has grown and changed beyond easy recognition. So, even though people cannot easily travel back to what was in literal time and space—the memory of what was will always be “waiting when you return” (Line 20).
People, Subject to Time and Change
Although “Theories of Time and Space” begins with a contemplation of place and space with its focus on “home” in the example of Gulfport, Mississippi, the poem’s focus does shift, so that by the end of the piece, the thing under examination becomes the “you,” rather than the speaker, Gulfport, or even a metaphorical “home.” The poem’s two key considerations within the “theory” of “time and space” are place and person. The city of Gulfport represents the place or the “home” of the speaker that exists but cannot be reached, and the second-person “you,” addressed by the speaker throughout the poem, is the person. Just as the place is subject to the laws of time and space, so too is the person.
In “Theories of Time and Space,” the “you” is subject to change as well, as evidenced by Trethewey’s direct statement in the poem’s penultimate and final couplets: “where you board the boat for Ship Island, / someone will take your picture: / the photograph—who you were— / will be waiting when you return” (Lines 16-20). After the upcoming trip (“the boat for Ship Island”), the person who returns will not be the same as the person who left on the trip. Rather than using the present-tense verb “are” to describe the “you” in the photograph, Trethewey uses the past-tense verb “were,” which purposefully suggests that “you,” the person, and people are also subject to the continuity of time, making it impossible to exist statically as a human being outside of the changes of time.
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