History

History is shown to be a living presence in the present moment. The novel is structurally designed to reinforce the fact that history is an integral part of the present moment. The narrative present is constantly intruded upon by events and facts from the past, and nothing that happens in the present moment exists by itself without being influenced by the past. Each chapter moves through time over a span of a thousand years, which of course puts history in the forefront of the readers’ mind each time a new chapter starts, as the reader must mentally flip back and forth.

Adding to this structural reminder is the fact that every chapter also beings with an epigraph from a historical document, either a letter or a textbook or a quote from an important political figure. These quotes often reflect the content of the upcoming chapter, but...