How to Stop Time

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Part 4, Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: “The Pianist”

Part 4, Chapter 1 Summary: “Bisbee, Arizona, 1926”

Tom is on assignment for Hendrich. Tom successfully completed three prior assignments locating and recruiting other albas for the society without any violence. This time is different. He is playing poker with Louis and Joe, two slow agers like Tom. Tom carefully introduces the topic: “I have been many people. Just like you” (186). Both men draw their guns, demanding that Tom place his pistol on the table. Tom does so and launches into his sales pitch. They grow tired of Tom’s talk of the society and threaten to shoot him. No law can touch them. They have a deal with the sheriff. Tom grows more nervous.

They take Tom out into the desert and make him dig a grave. He doesn’t want to die; he has to live for Marion. He crawls out of the hole at their command. When they demand he empty his pockets, he distracts them by looking at the horses. While their eyes are diverted, he smacks Joe in the face with the shovel. Joe falls to the ground, dropping his gun. Louis shoots Tom in the back. Tom grasps Joe’s gun and shoots both men. He rolls them into the grave and buries them. He frees one horse and takes the other back to Tucson, where he finds Agnes at the Arizona Inn. She patches him up.

Part 4, Chapter 2 Summary: “Los Angeles, 1926”

Tom meets Hendrich at a restaurant in the Garden Court Apartments and Hotel. Tom is starstruck at the sight of the movie star Lillian Gish, having developed a love for cinema while in Albuquerque. Hendrich tells him all stars come to this restaurant, including Charlie Chaplin. Tom is upset about killing those men in Arizona and doesn’t give in to Hendrich’s polite conversation. Tom asserts he didn’t like killing them and fleeing. Hendrich reassures him that he is just finding himself and his purpose. Tom thinks Hendrich should have warned him about those two.

Tom apologizes for visiting Dr. Hutchinson but begs for his old life back. Hendrich won’t do that: “You can’t simply cut away from society any more than you can be unborn” (194). Hendrich mentions Marion, promising yet again to find her. Tom is angry: Hendrich’s should have sensed that Joe and Louis were dangerous. Hendrich believes Tom is a survivor with a desire to live. Hendrich explains that the society provides “a system which enables us to enhance our lives” (195). Tom begrudgingly comments on his lonely farm life in Albuquerque. Hendrich hands him a letter from his previous recruit, Reginald Fisher. Tom reads about Reginald’s appreciation for being saved by the society and being part of its family. Hendrich brings the point home, saying Tom is a murderer now and needs the society’s protection. As a bribe, he offers to expend more resources in finding Marion.

Just then, Charlie Chaplin and three other men enter the restaurant. Chaplin tips his invisible hat at Hendrich and Tom as he greets Lillian Gish. Hendrich asks Tom what he wants next. Tom considers the scene in front of him, watching the pianist lost in his music going unnoticed by everyone in the room. Tom tells Hendrich he wants to do that.

Part 4, Chapters 1-2 Analysis

By 1926, Tom is ready for a new identity but first must complete an assignment for Hendrich. Tom plays poker with Louis and Joe, tasked with recruiting them for the Albatross Society. Poker is significant here. It is a game of chance and skill. While the players can’t control the cards, they must utilize bluffing to their advantage. Tom is dealt two cards, Louis and Joe, and must skillfully play his hand. He tries to convince them he is like them and the Albatross Society is there for protection. They, however, think he is bluffing. They have a good thing set up and don’t need him or the society interfering. Guns are pulled. For the first time, though, Tom comes out victorious. He kills Louis and Joe in self-defense and buries their bodies in the Arizona desert. This is his breaking point. Killing, even in self-defense, goes against his moral code. He confronts Hendrich about it. Hendrich belittles the situation and reassures Tom that it’s all part of his purpose. At this point, Tom is disgusted by the society and Hendrich’s nonchalance concerning death. He wants out.

Hendrich is an expert poker player. He holds his cards close, bluffing his way to victory. He again plays on Tom’s weakness, Marion. The public setting of the restaurant prevents Tom from making a scene. Hendrich happens to have a letter from one of Tom’s previous recruits praising the society and thanking them for saving him. The letter is proof that Tom is doing good work. It shows that the society really is a “a system” that “enhance[s] our lives” (195). Tom surveys the scene, noting how the piano player blends into the background. No one is watching him; he is invisible. Keeping with the ongoing motif, music influences Tom. He realizes he can play music in a restaurant or hotel while maintaining anonymity. Hendrich arranges it.