Temporality in The Overstory by Richard Powers

Abstract

In The Overstory by Richard Powers, there is a stark contrast between the temporality of trees and humans. Although Powers depicts trees as eternally static, he demonstrates how trees are enduring symbols used for memorialization. Contrastingly, Powers portrays humans as being temporary, both by nature individually and in their destructive behaviors as a collective; in both senses, Powers portrays humanity as operating in a quick-time, inhabiting a speedy temporal plane. In the convergence of these temporalities, which only occurs when humans get a glimpse of tree-time, humans are able to experience the stasis of trees, allowing them to live their lives more slowly. Powers depicts trees as enduring, so much so that they are often used as memorials. Powers describes Olivia five times as being called to aid “the most wondrous products of four billion years of life,” which underscores the ancient nature of trees (The Overstory, p.165;170;264;336;493). Through this repetition, one can see how the emphasis of the oldness of trees is often injected into scenes including Olivia, who is in tune with the presence of trees; it is as though her gift of understanding the strange presence makes the ancient legible. Moreover, Powers not only characterizes trees as old, but eternal as well. For example, when planting chestnuts, Nick thinks: “One day, my children will shake the trunks and eat for free” (The Overstory, p.6); this reveals his expectation that trees will survive long enough for his children to enjoy them, in spite of the environmental crisis occurring caused by pollution and global warming. Because of their enduring nature, trees are also used as sites of memorial: the Hoel Chestnut acts as a tombstone for John Hoel’s father as well as a marker for the time capsule, the mulberry tree becomes Winston Ma’s memorial, as this is where he commits suicide, and planting trees functions as commemoration for Ray and Dorothy’s relationship, as their yearly planting tradition stops when their relationship fails (The Overstory, p.10;13;41;168;211). It is therefore clear that the enduring nature of trees lends them to being tools of memorialization. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2022.2146477