Waterland masterfully travels through the historical past, as well as Tom Crick’s own past and present, creating a jolting effect. Tom’s obsession with the past is based on the idea that one can see events and repercussions of one’s actions clearly in hindsight, whereas the present and future are mutable, unpredictable. He insists that answers are obtainable by looking to the past. He finds clarity in backtracking and retracing his steps to reach a conclusion, like when sleuthing Dick’s murder case when younger, and when determining why Mary steals a baby, although he admits that sometimes “times blurs details” (35).

Tom regards the present as boring or painful, as when he watches other boys flirting with Mary when he has just discovered his love for her. He reflects:

“There’s something about this scene. It’s tense with the present tense. It’s fraught with the here and now, it’s laden with this stuff […] It affects your history teacher in the pit of the stomach. It gives him a feeling in his guts” (207).

Consequently, folks who live on the Fens often resort to storytelling, alcohol, or any number of “indulgences” to take them out of the present moment. One exception is early in Henry and Helen’s marriage before she gives birth to Dick: