Ingrid’s Descent and Henry’s Guilt

The Time Traveler's Wife

This thread follows Henry’s unstable relationship with Ingrid Carmichel and his later, futile attempt to intervene in her suicide.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Relationship of Volatility A Relationship of Volatility from "The Time Traveler's Wife". A Relationship of Volatility A difficult attachment Henry dates Ingrid before meeting Clare in the present.

A Relationship of Volatility from "The Time Traveler's Wife". A Relationship of Volatility A difficult attachment Henry dates Ingrid before meeting Clare in the present.

A Relationship of Volatility A difficult attachment Henry dates Ingrid before meeting Clare in the present. Their relationship includes attraction, conflict, drinking, and Henry’s unexplained disappearances. Ingrid bears the uncertainty Ingrid’s patience and distress become part of the damage Henry later recognizes in his past. Their connection does not fail because of one event, but because instability repeatedly becomes a way of life.

The Concert Encounter The Concert Encounter from "The Time Traveler's Wife". The Concert Encounter Clare meets Henry’s past At the Violent Femmes concert, Clare sees Henry arguing with Ingrid and learns that their relationship has been…

The Concert Encounter from "The Time Traveler's Wife". The Concert Encounter Clare meets Henry’s past At the Violent Femmes concert, Clare sees Henry arguing with Ingrid and learns that their relationship has been…

The Concert Encounter Clare meets Henry’s past At the Violent Femmes concert, Clare sees Henry arguing with Ingrid and learns that their relationship has been painful. The scene forces Clare to confront the fact that Henry’s life existed before she entered it. Henry explains the timing Henry later tells Clare that he met her and ended things with Ingrid soon afterward. His explanation cannot erase Ingrid’s suffering, but it distinguishes his past relationship from a betrayal of Clare.

A Sleeping-Pill Attempt A Sleeping-Pill Attempt from "The Time Traveler's Wife". A Sleeping-Pill Attempt A crisis reaches Henry indirectly Gomez tells Henry that Ingrid has attempted suicide with an overdose of Valium.

A Sleeping-Pill Attempt from "The Time Traveler's Wife". A Sleeping-Pill Attempt A crisis reaches Henry indirectly Gomez tells Henry that Ingrid has attempted suicide with an overdose of Valium.

A Sleeping-Pill Attempt A crisis reaches Henry indirectly Gomez tells Henry that Ingrid has attempted suicide with an overdose of Valium. Henry learns that this is not her first attempt and that her depression has deepened over time. Knowledge arrives too late Henry recognizes the seriousness of Ingrid’s condition but does not know how to help her. Her later death makes this moment part of his enduring guilt.

The Final Encounter The Final Encounter from "The Time Traveler's Wife". The Final Encounter Henry returns to Ingrid’s apartment Years later in his personal chronology, Henry appears in Ingrid’s apartment after she has died.

The Final Encounter from "The Time Traveler's Wife". The Final Encounter Henry returns to Ingrid’s apartment Years later in his personal chronology, Henry appears in Ingrid’s apartment after she has died.

The Final Encounter Henry returns to Ingrid’s apartment Years later in his personal chronology, Henry appears in Ingrid’s apartment after she has died. He knows the date and realizes what is about to happen, but his arrival cannot give him ordinary control over the past. A confrontation becomes fatal Ingrid challenges Henry about their relationship, asks whether he loved her, and turns a gun on herself. Henry tries to respond, but she shoots herself, leaving him to carry a new version of an old loss.

Grief After the Return Grief After the Return from "The Time Traveler's Wife". Grief After the Return A memory reopens Henry returns from the encounter in tears and tells Clare that Ingrid is dead, although she has been dead for years in…

Grief After the Return from "The Time Traveler's Wife". Grief After the Return A memory reopens Henry returns from the encounter in tears and tells Clare that Ingrid is dead, although she has been dead for years in…

Grief After the Return A memory reopens Henry returns from the encounter in tears and tells Clare that Ingrid is dead, although she has been dead for years in Clare’s chronology. For Henry, the death has just happened again. Clare gives the loss a place Clare stays with him and helps him rise into the night. Their different timelines make grief uneven, but her care lets Henry speak about Ingrid without being left alone with the memory.

Before October 1991

December 22, 1991

December 1991

January 2, 1994

December 18, 2006