The Man Who Folded Himself is a science fiction novel written by David Gerrold in 1973.

The reader is introduced to the main protagonist, Daniel Jamieson Eakins. Unlike other time travel narratives we have encountered in this course, Daniel is neither a theorist/inventor (HG Wells's Time Traveler) nor academic/physicist nor genius alien (Doctor Who). He has no specialized knowledge that will make him equipped to deal with time travel or readily able to adapt to other time periods. In fact, Daniel Eakins is completely normal, nothing special about him except that his Uncle Jim dies and leaves him a timebelt. Gerrold has gone out of his way to make Daniel not unique. The question is: why?

Before we answer the "why" let us factor in how this book is written. The book is structured in sections broken by three asterisks ( *  *  * ). Some sections span multiple pages and other sections have only one sentence or phrase. What defines each of these sections? Daniel's Uncle tells him to keep a diary in exchange for increasing his allowance: "I want you to record the things that seem important to you. Type out a few pages every day, that's all . . . Don't play any games, Danny. Be truthful in your diary. If you're not, you'll only cheat yourself. And put down everything--everything that seems important to you" (6). We are reading Daniel's diary entries. Once again we should ask why? How does this structure affect the narrative?

In the Time Machine, the reader follows the time traveler's accounting of his incredible journey. However, we read about this adventure after he had returned from it, so on one hand we knew how this first trip ended, the time traveler came back. He was safe - changed but still alive as you will read later in this course. The sequence of events was being narrated allowing the time traveler to add his own academic reflections and interpretations. He was not a normal observer being a man of great learning and insight. The time traveler was talking to his acquaintances in England, was explaining his adventure to them. Though we follow his tale as he lived it with interest, some of the suspense has been removed. Similarly, on some level the suspense is mitigated in The Man Who Folded Himself, as long as we read these entries, we know Daniel is alive. As you read these excerpts, pay attention to the subtle difference evoked in using a diaristic format, keeping in mind that Daniel is writing for himself, a loaded thought. 

One possible answer to "why" Daniel is so normal? The reader is even more closely able to identify with Daniel. This is not so much a story about time travel technology. The timebelt's origin is never explained, its functions are hinted at by an exhaustive manual but nowhere does it explain how it can transport Daniel through time. That is not what is important. What is important is Daniel's growth as he comes to grip with his ability.

Time:

Throughout the novel, Daniel experiences several time paradoxes. The most notable is that Daniel keeps encountering himself from a future time. He also negates his own birth. Such paradoxes are resolved by the idea of the multiverse theory or idea of multiple histories. This hopefully sounds familiar from our earlier introduction to an overview of Quantum Physics from Week 2. As Daniel explains it:

. . . you can change the past as many times as you want. You can't eliminate yourself. I could go back in time nineteen years and strangle myself in my crib, but I wouldn't cease to exist. . . . Every change you make is cumulative [Daniel is referring to going back in his own timeline and doing things slightly different]; it goes on top of every other change you've already made, and every change you add later will go on top of that . . . Think of an artist drawing a picture. But he's using indelible ink and he doesn't have an eraser. If he wants to make a change, he has to paint over a line with white. the line hasn't ceased to exist; it's just been painted over and a new line drawn on top.  On the surface, it doesn't seem to make much difference. the finished picture will look the same whether the artist uses an eraser or a gallon of white paint, but it's important to the artist. He's aware of the process he used to obtain the final result and it affects his consciousness. He's aware of all lines and drawings beneath the final one, the the layer upon layer of images, each one not quite the one--all those discarded pieces; they haven't ceased to exist, they've just been painted out of view" (63-64).

If there was only one timeline or one timestream (like Time After Time, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, or the Time Machine) the paradoxes like the grandfather paradox would exist and time travel itself would have to be impossible. However, what Daniel realizes is everytime he made a change to his own timestream or timeline, he actually shifted to an alternate timestream. But as far as he was concerned, from his subjective point-of-view, it is the only timestream because he can never go back to the original one. Daniel travels through time a witness to historic events and goes into the future, he even at one point tries to stop tragedies from happening like killing Hitler as a baby. Of course, the world resulting from that action is far worse so he goes back and stops himself. This correction he calls "excising". As the story unfolds, Daniel continually changes his timestream to suit his own sensibilities, in essence trying to create his own utopia.

Theme of Loneliness:

Daniel is a character that struggles with isolation: "I wasn't very good talking to people, and when they tried to get too close to me, I backed away in a hurry" (39). Time travel only further isolates Daniel. He doesn't belong in the past and he doesn't belong in the future. "And there are other differences. In the past, I am too tall. The farther back I travel, the shorter everybody becomes. And the farther forward I go, the taller. In the not-too-distant future, I am too short--humanity's evolution is upward" (72). Like the Doctor, he is the only one capable of such travel. Unlike the Doctor who travels with "companions", Daniel is only able to find companionship with himself, Daniel's from other timestreams. It is at this point the book takes a controversial and unsettling turn. Ultimately, he can only find love with himself, seeking the companionship of one of his other selves from a future timestream. He even encounters a female version of himself, Diane from an alternate timeline, and has a son. For Daniel, who else can he find? Who else can understand him or what he has experienced? The timebelt has removed him so completely from the world. I leave you to read these sections for yourself should you ever wish to read the entire book on your own. 

The great tragedy for Daniel is that he has always been alone with only himself. What of Uncle Jim you may ask? This man gives him the timebelt. This man was like a father to him? I leave you to read the excerpts. The answer is connected to why Uncle Jim asked Daniel to keep a diary in the first place.

The focus of this story is Daniel's struggle to cope with the power of time travel and his desire to find companionship.

For example:

"But if each of us is happiest in the universe he builds for himself, does it matter? Does it really matter if there's no such thing as free will? * * * It bothers me --this one. I need to know that there is some important reason for my existence. There must be something special about me. * * * I will find the answer! * * * I know what my mission is. I know who I am. I should have realized it when  the timebelt was first given to me. I am destined to rule the universe. I am God. * * * But I must never let them find out, or they will try to kill me. * * * I think I will kill them first. * * * If I ever get out of this room, I will kill them all!" (96-97).

Daniel's abilities and questions in one timestream cause him to loose control mentally. However, another Daniel from a future comes back and stops him. This Daniel with delusions of grandeur and paranoid schizophrenia is locked away in an insane asylum in another timestream with his timebelt taken away. The Daniel we are following, continues.

That is important to remember in this story, just as time continues--so does Daniel.

Point-Of-View:

This particular narrative is told from a first-person subjective point-of-view. The reader's knowledge is limited to what Daniel learns and experiences at a given time. Daniel is writing the journal for himself.  Gerrold, the author, is writing for us (an audience of readers).

Think about how you would define the "voice" of this text. Voice refers to how an author "sounds" on the page. Voice is one's style, one's tone (tone is the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character), and one's unique way of telling a story. What do you think is Gerrold's tone (attitude) toward Daniel and this subject?

As you read:

The first thing Daniel does with the timebelt is go ahead to the future and grab a newspaper, then go back and bet on horses. Pages 28-36 recount Daniel's first experience at the track, he goes with himself from the future called Don. Don has already lived this day. Pages 45 - 58 recount the same day except this time Daniel is now Don talking to his past self. Notice how the chapter is written almost identically in terms of the sequence of events and the dialogue spoken. What is different are the inner thoughts of Daniel. In addition, as Don, Daniel changes two things. 

The question Daniel wishes to answer is one that everyone asks: who am I and why am I here? By page 156 Daniel has figured that out as an older man. He finally knows what to do with his timebelt and his diary.   

He reflects: "Before, I was young, foolish. I was like a barbarian at the banquet. I gulped and guzzled; I ate without tasting. I rushed through each experience like a tourist trying to see twenty-one European cities in two weeks and enjoying none of them" (136).

As mentioned earlier, this book is about personal growth, finding one's self, overcoming isolation, finding purpose, finding love, and finding out why you exist in the first place. Daniel may have begun as a time traveler out for money and curiosity, but unlike the other time travelers we have encountered, this narrative is about self-discovery and is focused solely on his own internal struggle. thus, as a reader we can connect to him readily. We can identify with his emotions even if we cannot understand his situation. We know him intimately, more than we ever know the Doctor or Well's Time Traveler. And perhaps that is why some of his more perverse actions are so unsettling, because we are already much more attached in the reading, can so readily empathize with Daniel.

Source: Gerrold, David. The Man Who Folded Himself. New York: Bantam Books, 1991. 

posted by JM Venturini (instructor1) 6/21/08; updated 6/1/09

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