“Because around a crisis point, even the tiniest action can assume importance all out of proportion to its size. Consequences multiply and cascade, and anything—a missed telephone call, a match struck during a blackout, a dropped piece of paper, a single moment—can have empire-tottering effects.”
In a time-traveling narrative, the elements of butterfly effects or ripple effects have to be part of the plot. The novel is not an exception, as Ned and Verity have to be extremely careful around historical occurrences that can change everything in the future. Luckily their version of time travel is one that rectifies any meddling that may cause any ripple effects. However, small changes around significant points can still cause momentary alterations that can lead to irreparable effects. The assertion highlights the thin line the time travelers have to tread on to make sure their mission is successful without interfering.
“It is a temporal universal that people never appreciate their own time, especially transportation. Twentieth-Century contemps complained about cancelled flights and gasoline prices, Eighteenth-Century contemps complained about muddy roads and highwaymen.”
Each time period has its own version of the human experience in terms of how people interact with their external worlds. However, human nature is an aspect that remains constant despite the facets of their times. The time travelers, therefore, observe this first-hand as they jump through multiple time periods. In that humans are inclined to complain about their current state despite the strides that have been made. Thus, the quotation highlights the specificities of transportation that have changed but the nature of man persists.
“The reason Victorian society was so restricted and repressed was that it was impossible to move without knocking something over.”
Before traveling to a different time period the travelers have to learn every single detail about the times. Ned has to learn about the Victorian era even though his brain is still muddy due to the time lag. In order to navigate the era the decorum of the period has to be assumed to blend seamlessly. Through this, he notices how social behavior and morality go hand in hand with the visual and physical aspects.
