Essay Questions

What is the significance of Weis asking Will if he has a guard at the card table?

Will has arrived in New Greenwich and finds himself seated at a table with elite time holders. Weis asking about Will's lack of having a guard means he knows that Will is not one of the elite. If he were, he would know that his life is in danger everywhere he goes as gangs are out to rob the elite in order to survive.

Why does Hamilton give Will his 100+ years, thus ending his own life?

Hamilton gives up his years to Will as he has come to know that death is a natural part of life. One that the elite of New Greenwich have come to dismiss as they hoard millions of years while the poor die early. Hamilton has taken ownership of the secret of life, that life without death is merely a fraction of the completeness of our time on earth.

What does Will and Sylvia do with the 1,000,000 year time capsule they steal from her Dad?

Will and Sylvia steal the one million unit time capsule and disperse it amongst the poor of Dayton, which allows them to geographically move out of their time zone and into areas that have been effected less by poverty. In doing so, the factories which they were metaphorically chained to must be shut down as no one needs to stay behind to grub day after day for a small unit of time, they are able to move up in the world, get better jobs, homes and opportunities for themselves.