The Past, Present, and Future

The author employs a fragmented narrative structure in order to enact the interconnection between past, present, and future. Instead of crafting the "Twilight of the Superheroes" narrative along a linear timeline, the author fractures time and space. The narrative jolts between Nathaniel and Lucien's imagined versions of the future, foggy memories of the past, and apathetic engagement with the present. These frequent, and jarring temporal and spatial movements illustrate the ways in which the characters' familial and cultural histories have dictated their present circumstances. The short story begins with Nathaniel imagining himself telling his grandchildren about "the dawn of the new millennium" (3). Though he scoffs at "all the commotion" of the era, he also suggests that history has something to teach everyone (4). Yet the lesson Nathaniel extracts from this time, is that "we poor humans cannot actually think ahead; there are just...