Leaving Time
“Leaving Time” by Jodi Picoult is a gripping novel that intertwines mystery, grief, and the bond between humans and elephants. The story follows Jenna Metcalf, a 13-year-old girl searching for her mother, Alice, a renowned elephant researcher who disappeared a decade earlier under mysterious circumstances. With the help of a skeptical psychic and a disgraced detective, Jenna uncovers buried secrets about her mother’s work and the tragic events at an elephant sanctuary. The novel explores themes of memory, loss, and maternal love, while weaving in fascinating insights into elephant behavior and emotions. Picoult blends emotional depth with suspense, culminating in a surprising twist that redefines the narrative.
Chapter 9: Jenna
byPicoult, Jodi
The chapter opens with Jenna recalling a vivid memory of her parents, sparked by a fragment of conversation preserved in her mother’s journal. The scene unfolds with her parents playfully debating the existence of monogamy in the animal kingdom, her mother—a scientist—dismissing each example her father provides as circumstantial or chemically driven. Their banter, filled with humor and affection, culminates in a tender moment where her father compares their love to the anglerfish’s extreme monogamy, kissing her mother as they laugh. Jenna observes this interaction, noting how their silent communication mirrors the unseen ways elephants communicate, a detail that hints at her mother’s work and Jenna’s own longing to understand her.
Jenna’s narrative shifts to reflect on her mother’s journals, which are filled with meticulous elephant behavior observations from Botswana. While reading them, Jenna fixates not on the scientific data but on the personal traces of her mother—her handwriting, the pressure of her pencil—hoping to reconstruct her identity from these fragments. This mirrors her mother’s own scientific process of piecing together elephant behavior, though Jenna feels frustrated by the gaps in her understanding. She muses that Virgil, the detective she’s enlisted to help find her missing mother, might share this tendency to focus on missing pieces rather than the bigger picture.
The chapter then transitions to Jenna’s present-day interaction with Virgil, who agrees to take her case despite his hungover state. Skeptical of his reliability, she insists on driving him to a diner for coffee, only to reveal her “car” is a bicycle. Their comedic journey—with Virgil awkwardly perched on the handlebars—highlights Jenna’s precociousness and determination. The scene underscores her resourcefulness and the odd-couple dynamic between them, as she navigates the challenges of being a teenager investigating her mother’s disappearance without adult support.
The summary concludes with Jenna questioning Virgil about the lack of effort in searching for her mother, pointing out the absence of flyers or a command center. This moment reveals her frustration with the authorities’ indifference and her relentless drive to uncover the truth. The chapter blends nostalgia for her parents’ love story with her present-day quest, emphasizing Jenna’s emotional depth and the unresolved mystery that propels her forward.
FAQs
1. What is the significance of Jenna’s memory of her parents discussing animal monogamy, and how does it connect to her search for her mother?
Answer:
This memory serves as a poignant connection between Jenna and her missing mother, revealing their shared scientific curiosity while highlighting Jenna’s emotional need to reconstruct her mother’s identity. The journal entry demonstrates Alice’s meticulous nature (recording even playful debates) and her scientific worldview, which Jenna now uses as clues to understand her. The conversation about animal bonding parallels Jenna’s own search for connection—just as she analyzes her mother’s notes for hidden meanings, she scrutinizes this memory for insights into her parents’ relationship and her mother’s disappearance. The memory’s vivid sensory details (“voices rise and fall like the tail of a kite”) underscore how Jenna clings to fragmented recollections to feel close to her mother.2. Analyze how the author uses animal behavior metaphors to develop the themes of love and loss in this chapter.
Answer:
The playful debate about animal monogamy serves as an extended metaphor for human relationships. Alice’s scientific rebuttals (swans cheating, wolves’ circumstantial loyalty) contrast with her husband’s romantic idealism, mirroring the tension between logic and emotion in relationships. The anglerfish example—where the male fuses to the female—becomes unexpectedly tender when he says “I’d fuse to you,” suggesting that love persists beyond scientific explanations. Later, the penguin’s pebble ritual transforms into a symbolic gesture when Jenna’s father gives Alice a stone, representing fragile yet enduring connections. These metaphors deepen the theme of loss, as Jenna now holds only these “pebbles” of memory where a full relationship once existed.3. How does the bicycle scene with Virgil Stanhope reveal key aspects of both characters’ personalities?
Answer:
This scene showcases Jenna’s determination and resourcefulness—she improvises transportation despite her age (pointing out “I’m thirteen”) and maintains control of the situation (“You’re drunk. I’m driving”). Her sarcastic humor (“Door Number One”) reveals a maturity beyond her years, shaped by necessity. Virgil’s reluctant compliance and hungover complaints highlight his disheveled nature, yet his willingness to go along with a teenager’s plan suggests underlying flexibility. Their dynamic—Jenna as the capable leader, Virgil as the flawed but compliant adult—foreshadows their investigative partnership. The absurdity of the situation (a detective riding a child’s bike) contrasts with the gravity of Jenna’s mission, emphasizing her unconventional approach to solving problems.4. What does Jenna’s observation about elephants communicating through vibrations reveal about her perspective on human relationships?
Answer:
When Jenna compares her parents’ silent understanding to elephants sensing vibrations through their feet, she reveals her belief that deep connections transcend verbal communication. This reflects her struggle to understand her mother’s disappearance—like elephants, her family may have had unspoken bonds that outsiders can’t perceive. The observation also shows Jenna’s scientific curiosity, inherited from her mother, as she applies animal behavior to human emotions. Importantly, it underscores her frustration with missing information; just as Maura senses invisible elephant communications, Jenna senses hidden truths about her mother but can’t fully access them. This metaphor positions Jenna as both observer and participant in her own family mystery.5. Evaluate how the chapter uses contrasting tones to balance the weight of Jenna’s search with lighter character moments.
Answer:
The chapter skillfully alternates between melancholy and humor to maintain narrative tension. Heavy themes—Jenna’s fragmented memories, her mother’s absence, scientific analyses of loss—are offset by playful scenes like the parents’ banter (“Your Valentine’s heart probably has an aorta”) and Virgil’s drunken bike ride. Even the animal monogamy debate begins as intellectual sparring but becomes tender (“He kisses her… their laughter sounds like confetti”). This contrast mirrors Jenna’s emotional reality: a child balancing grief with everyday resilience. The shift from poetic descriptions (“a guitar string pulled tight”) to blunt teen pragmatism (“What the fuck is that?”) keeps the narrative emotionally authentic, preventing sentimentality while honoring the complexity of Jenna’s journey.
Quotes
1. “HIM: You have to admit, Alice, there are certain animals that know there’s one perfect mate. HER: Crap. Complete and utter crap. Prove to me that monogamy exists in the natural world, without an environmental influence.”
This playful yet scientifically charged debate between Jenna’s parents captures the chapter’s central exploration of love, biology, and monogamy. Their banter contrasts romantic idealism with scientific skepticism, setting up a key thematic tension.
2. “HER: Only because of the oxytocin and vasopressin released in their brains. It’s not love. It’s chemical commitment.”
Alice’s reduction of love to neurochemistry represents her scientific worldview, while also hinting at the deeper emotional undercurrents in their relationship. This quote exemplifies the chapter’s blending of biological facts with human emotion.
3. “HIM: I’d fuse to you. He kisses her. HIM: Right at the lips.”
This tender moment transforms the scientific discussion into a personal declaration of love. The anglerfish metaphor becomes a beautiful, if macabre, romantic gesture, showing how scientific facts can be repurposed as emotional language.
4. “When they laugh, it sounds like confetti.”
This poetic description of parental joy stands out for its vivid sensory imagery. It represents Jenna’s nostalgic recollection of her parents’ happiness, contrasting with her present-day search for her missing mother.
5. “I read each entry, but instead of seeing elephants, I picture the hand that wrote the notes… I put together the clues of my mother the same way she shuffled and reshuffled the observations of her elephants.”
This reveals Jenna’s parallel journey to her mother’s scientific work - both seeking patterns in fragments. It highlights the chapter’s exploration of how we reconstruct meaning from incomplete evidence, whether in science or personal history.