History Literature / ClocksThatDontTick

* ImmortalityInducer: The procedure that the Swiss scientists devised using their knowledge of Hope’s mutation and super white blood cells.

* {{Asexual}}: Thralls and Travelers generally aren’t romantic. The residencies in the Thrall district are split by gender. It’s not that they’re ignorant about love – it’s just that they don’t have the time or energy for it. While [[spoiler: Gary and Martha end up falling in love…sort of,]] they don’t get more physical than holding hands.

* Sadist: Miss Jackson.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Gary outright says many of his fellow Thralls are on the verge of madness. The four Bosses directly shown also appeared to be insane, especially Miss Jackson and Eternal President Clydesdale. It can be reasonably assumed that a large fraction of common people are crazy, along with, judging by William, much of the Revolution. The sane individuals are, for the most part, irrevocably bitter. [[WideEyedIdealists Wide-eyed idealists]] like Mathew and Henry are rare exceptions. It can be argued, however, that being idealistic in such a world is madness in of itself.

** [[spoiler: The resurrected ‘Gary’ is hardly Gary at all, much to Martha’s regret.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Fifty years after the main events of the book, Martha is once again working in the Thrall district. She recalls how Gary was killed by Miss Jackson and how she pleaded for the Bosses to resurrect him. They agreed, but only at a horrible price: Dawn and Jeff, her adopted babies, will be tortured day and night until she has the nerve to kill them. Every morning and evening, Martha has to pass by them. They’re [[AndIMustScream trapped in a glass box, arms strapped to a clock-like machine.]] Every six hours, their arms and legs are broken by said machine. Once a day, a hive of wasps or a colony of bullet ants is released to bite them. This is made even worse by the fact that the ‘Gary’ the Bosses brought back isn’t really Gary at all. Martha and Gary both carry a button with them. If pressed, they will put a baby out of its misery, but only one per button. Martha refuses to press hers because she doesn’t want the other twin to be left alone. Gary refuses to press his because the Bosses told them it would cause something horrible to happen. One day, Charlemagne visits, now referring to himself as Ozymandias. He agrees to help Martha get the button from Gary. The novel ends with Martha putting both of the babies out of their misery and proclaiming that Hope is finally, truly dead.]]

** According to Gary, the world saw Hope as this up until she died from cancer. She continues to be a major part of [[Mega Corp the Company’s]] iconography.

* NoRomanticResolution: [[spoiler: In the epilogue, Martha admits to Charlie that she really does love Gary. Problem is, the ‘Gary’ that’s around at that point is hardly Gary at all.]]

* Squick: The protagonist’s journey through the sewers. Just about everything concerning the way common people look/live.

--> ''Agnus dei. The lamb of God, a Hope for a better age when none was really needed. Every Hope disintegrates when we need it the most. People don’t make music like this anymore, music so beautiful, somber, sad, ethereal. No room for composers and concert halls in a world like this, a world ruled by people like the four before us.''

* WellIntentionedExtremist: William has equal shades of this and [[ForTheEvuls for the evuls.]]