The Dutch House Lesson Plan

Discuss how Patchett uses time in the novel. How does the narrative unfold, and what effect does this have on the reader's experience of the story?

The novel moves through time both chronologically and cyclically/recursively. Overall, the story moves chronologically from Danny's childhood to adulthood, but it includes many jumps forward and back in time and some retellings of the same events. By approaching time in this way, Patchett accurately recreates the experience of memory, which is a key theme of the novel. Memory is cyclical, recursive, and often uncertain or unreliable. Readers understand that Danny's memory is subjective and possibly influenced by later...