The Ministry of Time

Usually referred to only as the Ministry, the Ministry of Time is the body of the British government overseeing time-travel experiments, specifically the expatriation project. It symbolizes colonial powers, the Nazi regime in World War II, and the idea of bullies. As early as the interview stage for the narrator’s job at the Ministry, the interviewer refers to her mother being a refugee from Cambodia, which was part of the French colonial system. This establishes a link between the Ministry and the novel’s examination of colonialism. Just as the narrator’s grandfather wanted her mother to evolve to Cambodia’s French system, Adela eventually wants to ensure the narrator’s loyalty to the Ministry. In fact, she came back in time to make sure the Ministry rises to power so that Britain can maintain the geopolitical advantage it has in her timeline. She notes that the British Empire saw other people’s countries as “useful or negligible but rarely conceived of as autonomous” (26). The Ministry treats people the same way in its unethical experiments. When Arthur—and Maggie in Adela’s timeline—proves less useful than other expats, the Ministry kills him. Like imperialist powers, the Ministry forces its will and dominion on others without regard for their innate rights.

Graham’s allusion to The Ministry of Fear, Graham Greene’s 1943 novel about a Nazi spy ring, suggests a thematic parallel to this novel. The Ministry of Fear criticizes governmental abuses of power and political agendas that violate human rights and exploit people’s fears. The narrator observes similar practices in her Ministry. Its actions are deemed responsible for a future of world wars, depleted resources, and severe climate crisis. As a government entity significantly shaping history, the Ministry symbolizes the Nazi regime and other government entities that disregard human rights in the name of national security and prosperity.

The narrator’s tale about the spider in her yard when she was eight, and a comment Simellia makes, reveal that the Ministry also symbolizes bullies in general. All her life, the narrator has aligned herself with people or things she fears, to keep herself safe. She fed a butterfly to the spider because it was strong, and she feared it. Her loyalty to the Ministry is the same. Simellia tells her, “That’s why you joined up. Getting behind the biggest bully in the playground” (311). The Ministry is a source of fear because it operates without oversight and is unburdened by ethical standards. The narrator protects herself by doing their bidding and rationalizing their actions, but she later regrets doing so.