If Cats Disappeared From The World

Clocks are a recurring motif throughout the novel. The postman’s father works as a clockmaker and repairman, the postman and his ex-girlfriend reunite under a clock tower, and clocks are one of the items that the devil makes disappear. The postman’s father prioritized mending his wife’s watch over attending her deathbed, which was his way of showing care in their relationship—something she, unlike their son, understood. In this way, the motif of clocks connects different characters, and contributes to the theme of Valuing Objects, Relationships, and the Everyday.

The Devil explains clocks and other timepieces as humanity’s attempt to quantify and control the unstoppable flow of time. This links to the postman’s process of Coming to Terms with Death. Traditionally, clocks are an aesthetic symbol of memento mori, a Latin phrase that heralds the inevitability of death. It is bad luck to give clocks as gifts in many East Asian countries because of this kind of symbolism. As the postman’s death draws close, the presence of clocks in the narrative is an omnipresent reminder of his mortality.