Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses the Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern by Rona Arato

Author:Rona Arato
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781927121337
Publisher: Bookclub-in-a-Box

To what extent do Celia and Marco allow themselves to be manipulated by their respective guardians? In what way are the other characters manipulated, and what is their breaking point?

Time and Clocks

Each character in The Night Circus has a distinct relationship with time, which is usually dependant on their current state of happiness or unhappiness. For Celia, she “wishes she could freeze time as she listens to the steady beat of Marco's heart against the ticking of the clock. To stay forever within this moment, curled in his arms, his hands softly stroking her back.” (p.299) However, when Bailey is separated from the thing he loves—the circus itself, and potentially Poppet—he “spends the entire day willing the sun to set, but it defies him and keeps its usual pace across the sky, a pace that Bailey has never really thought about before but today finds excruciatingly slow.” (p.107)

The novel’s most notable clock, of course, is the one built by Friedrick Thiessen, and it is the first fantastic vision circus patrons see. Thiessen’s clock is an intricate creation that presages the wonders found inside the circus. When the clockmaker was commissioned for this piece, he was given complete artistic license—the only direction he was given was to make it “dreamlike,” (p.68) a very fitting description for the circus itself. (see Dreams, p.43)

The magic of the circus’s opening night begins at midnight, when the bonfire is lit and “twelve of the fire performers quietly enter the courtyard with small platforms that they set up along the perimeter like numbers on a clock.” (p.93) It is the real beginning to a new day and so it is fitting that the action in the circus begins at that hour. It is also the hour that the Murray twins are born—they are the future of the circus.

Chandresh Lefèvre’s Midnight Dinners become a tradition at his house. They were brought about “by a combination of chronic insomnia and keeping theatrical hours,” (p.55) and much like the circus itself, they are surrounded by an air of mystery and feature a notable clock. At these dinners, the first course is served precisely when Chandresh’s grandfather clock strikes midnight.

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