The Time Keeper

Content Warning: The section of the guide includes discussions of suicide and sexual assault.

Dor, who transitions into Father Time, is the principal protagonist of the fable. Dor begins as a mortal man, becomes immortal, and then is allowed to return to a mortal existence after his task is complete. Throughout the fable, his view of time evolves. At first, Dor is intellectually curious, which leads him to conceive of measuring and counting. As a boy, he is described as someone whose “mind goes deeper than those around him” (7).

Unlike his childhood friend Nim, Dor is not interested in power or wealth. He marries his childhood sweetheart, Alli, and loves the three children they have together. He is not a successful man by the standards of their age because of his obsession with measuring, which has no value in their society. Dor’s refusal to help Nim build his tower or use timekeeping to enhance Nim’s power leads to his banishment.

As Father Time, Dor must face the consequences of his introduction of time to humanity. Through the centuries of listening to the voices of people making demands and pleas about time, he learns that time is not something human beings can control, a lesson that he then teaches Victor and Sarah as they try to control how much time they each have.