Time's Arrow Discussion Questions

1. Martin Amis's Times Arrowoffers an account of a human's life backwards in time. The novel opens with his death and reads the "decline" of Tod's body backwards, so that it appears that Tod's body becomes healthier. Discuss issues of death/decline/decay and their function in the novel.

2. What is the effect of this reverse chronological narrative process? At what points do you struggle most with the narrative style? What does the reverse narrative style seem to suggest about the main character's perceptions or experiences?

3. How would you characterize the relationship between the main character (originally called Tod Friendly) and the narrator of the novel?

4. What do you make of the "turn" the novel takes after "Tod" arrives in Europe? If you answer this question, try to alert students that you will be revealing important plot information (a "spoilers alert" will suffice).

5. One of the intriguing effects of the reverse chronology is that all financial transactions become transformed (Tod "sells" groceries back to the Superette, he removes money from the offering plate). What does the novel seem to be saying about the flow of money?