48 pages • 1-hour read
Twice
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Themes
Changing Fate and Interfering with Divine Design
In Twice, Albom explores the consequences of attempting to alter fate and interfere with the natural course of life. Alfie’s repeated use of his reversal power exemplifies this theme. The novel frames the tension between human desire and divine will when Alfie’s mother reflects, “I want, and you want, and God does what God wants” (154). This line encapsulates the central conflict of the novel, which is that even with extraordinary abilities, Alfie cannot fully control the outcomes of life. Albom utilizes direct dialogue and repetition to emphasize the futility and limits of human interference with fate, while the narrative structure of Alfie’s reversals serves as a metaphor for humanity’s impulse to “play God.”
Throughout the novel, the use of Alfie’s magical ability functions as symbolism for human attempts to rewrite history. In moments like his first reversal, where he observes the lion attacking him, the suspense and imagery of danger demonstrate the stakes of altering events and the possibility of failure. These interventions often produce unintended consequences. Alfie’s pursuit of Gianna and attempts to manipulate events reveal both his false confidence and the ethical dilemmas involved in manipulating fate. The story also uses contrast between past and present experiences, showing that even repeated attempts to perfect outcomes cannot prevent loss, disappointment, or mortality.
Albom positions fate as being intertwined with personal growth. Alfie’s failures teach him the limitations of control and the inevitability of mortality. The elephant scene in Kenya as an adult, where Alfie revisits his childhood friend and the life he left behind, symbolizes how the simpler, more appreciative perspective in life he possessed as a child would be more fulfilling than the one he developed after discovering his gift. The narrative’s use of nature, life cycles, and memory reinforces the idea that some aspects of life are sacred and untouchable. By portraying Alfie’s conflict between success and heartbreak, the novel reflects on the boundaries of power and human desire, hinting that true wisdom is defined by acceptance rather than manipulation.
Through Alfie’s experiences, Albom argues that interfering with divine design is both tempting and destructive. The narrative warns that desire-driven acts, whether to protect loved ones, correct mistakes, or pursue personal happiness, cannot alter fundamental truths or change the ultimate course of one’s life. Instead, the novel encourages the understanding that life, including its suffering and its unpredictability, follows a design that humans can influence only to a certain extent and should come to embrace.
Accepting One’s Life, Mistakes, and Mortality
Twice examines how people confront their past choices and the inevitability of mortality, revealing the power of reflection and acceptance to transform a person’s perspective. Alfie’s journey illustrates that reckoning with one’s life requires honesty, humility, and emotional vulnerability. This theme is evident when Alfie reflects on loss and grief: “Looking back, I suppose I was depressed. I had lost Wesley as I had lost my mother. Both too young. Both too soon” (79). The parallel structure comparing the deaths of Wesley and his mother emphasizes the everlasting weight of grief and introduces the experience of loss as a formative influence on Alfie’s personality. It also reasserts how strongly Alfie is influenced by his feelings of powerlessness, as the one thing he couldn’t prevent with his gift was death. The desire to overcome this feeling drove him to many of his most regretted actions, while accepting the fact that everyone experiences loss may have allowed him to process his experiences in a healthier way.
Alfie’s repeated reversals serve as a narrative device that emphasizes his struggle to reconcile mistakes, illustrating the human desire to rewrite history. Despite his extraordinary ability, he learns that some consequences cannot be undone, such as the death of his and Gianna’s baby. The story relies on internal conflict and foreshadowing to showcase the limitations of control over life’s unpredictability, reinforcing mortality as an unavoidable reality. The repeated failure of Alfie’s attempts to change the future teaches him the necessity of accepting past errors and finding meaning despite imperfection.
Alfie’s visit to his childhood elephant friend in Kenya serves as a metaphor for continuity, memory, and the way that one’s choices follow them throughout life. Even as he struggles with loss and regret, his happier memories and their influence on him endure as well. Similarly, watching the movie Alfie after his stroke is used as a symbolic mirror, forcing Alfie to confront the emptiness of a life lived without intentional reflection or attachment. Albom’s use of imagery and contrast between Alfie’s alternate histories and his current reality shows how self-awareness comes from understanding one’s limitations. Instead of distancing himself from others to avoid pain, as he did in the timeline wherein he ended up alone in the hospital, he is encouraged by the trip to Kenya to rebuild his relationships more thoughtfully, dedicating his efforts to developing healthy, positive dynamics not dictated by his desire to control everything.
Alfie’s acceptance culminates in his acknowledgment of his neurological decline and the consequences of past choices. The story suggests that mortality and mistakes, although painful and hard to accept, are the foundations of emotional growth and moral understanding. Alfie’s story illustrates that coming to terms with life involves embracing imperfection, giving up control, and finding value in the relationships, memories, and experiences that define existence, whether perfect or not.
True Love’s Ability to Endure
One of the key themes in the story is the endurance of true love across time and circumstances. The story portrays love as a force capable of surviving separation, misunderstandings, and personal failings. Alfie’s love for Gianna exemplifies this, as he continually returns to her, despite repeated heartbreak and his own mistakes. He reflects, “I’ve had one great love in my life, Boss. One woman in whose eyes I found the better version of myself. But I made a grave mistake, one I could not go back and fix. It’s a cruel trick to have two chances at your heart’s desire” (10). This conveys the tension of unfulfilled love and the weight of Gianna as his ideal and moral compass. Alfie referencing a “better version” of himself shows how his decisions to go back in time were self-centered, based in his desire to become what he thought was a better man instead of his desire to respect Gianna and the integrity of their relationship. The biggest threat to their love was not external forces but his own fear of failure.
Nonetheless, their relationship survived through the purity of their feelings for one another and Alfie’s emotional journey to learn how best to love Gianna. This asserts that while the original feeling can be unavoidable, arising through circumstances beyond a person’s control, personal action and thoughtfulness is required to sustain that love. Throughout the narrative, Albom uses repetition and parallelism to show love’s endurance through these means. Alfie revisits Gianna at multiple points in time, through memory, magic, and reflection. Each encounter reinforces the idea of constancy despite circumstance when it comes to love. Even when Gianna falls for someone else and life moves forward without him, Alfie’s consistent support and care illustrate that genuine love is an action rather than a feeling. The recurring motif of “reversals” is used as both a literary device and a metaphor for love’s resilience. Like Alfie’s ability to change time, it can bend, adapt, and survive experiences that would end less profound connections.
The elephant from Alfie’s childhood in Kenya was the original place in which Gianna and Alfie met and fell in love. Just as Alfie safeguards the elephant, he preserves his love for Gianna across years and lifetimes, symbolizing the spiritual and sacred nature of true devotion. Similarly, the revolving doors on the stormy day serves as a physical and metaphorical meeting place, representing the culmination of love’s persistence and the reconciliation of past and present. The epilogue solidifies this theme. Gianna herself gains the ability to reverse time and chooses Alfie. This moment reinforces Albom’s suggestion that authentic love is not dependent on perfection, timing, or social constructs; instead, it endures because it is rooted in recognition, loyalty, and deep emotional resonance.
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