The Invisible Hour

Ivy is Mia’s mother and a foil to Mia. Ivy is a strikingly beautiful woman, and her gray eyes and dark hair captivate Joel Davis when they first meet. She refuses to conform to the world she was born into and escapes when the men who are supposed to love and protect her hurt her. She is passionate about literature, though she does not excel in school. The Community and Joel offer her the promise of a life where she is honored for her actions rather than her appearance. That promise contributes to The False Security of Invisibility as she learns from Mia’s birth and Kayla’s death that Joel’s control is a cage rather than a protection. Although she allows the men in her life to dictate her actions, elements of rebellion in her personality keep her from reaching full invisibility.

Ivy’s defining characteristic, however, is motherhood. It is her love for Mia that drives her to run away from home, marry Joel, and stay in the Community to avoid potentially losing Mia. Her transgressions are all to shield Mia—even the letter to Helen is designed to provide for Mia if something happens to Ivy. Ivy’s intense love for Mia is ultimately the model for Mia’s choice to go back to her own time and raise her child alone. Ivy’s choices lead to her death, but they also lead to Mia’s freedom. As a result, Ivy is the catalyst for many of Mia’s choices, even after she dies.

Nathaniel is both Mia’s primary love interest and the novel’s example of ideal masculinity. He is described as “highly intelligent, as well as so extremely handsome that when he walk[s] through the town of Salem women […] grow faint” (129). However, he is completely unaware of his effect on women, and he cares deeply for the women in his life and the women of the past. Even though he is a major literary figure, he is portrayed as a gentle man who desires invisibility and the simple space to write. Although he is prone to occasional dark moods, he still takes care to honor the women he encounters, even women who are often rejected by society, like sex workers. He feels that it is his duty to atone for the sins of his ancestors who participated unapologetically in the Salem witch trials. Nathaniel’s words and actions allow Mia to experience romantic love, leading her to see personal connection and her own visibility as desirable and positive.

Joel is Mia’s primary antagonist. He represents the world’s damaging patriarchal controls. Although he is physically attractive and preaches love and acceptance to his followers, his primary goal is to possess and control those around him. His passion for Ivy appears sincere, especially at her death, but his willingness to use Mia to keep Ivy metaphorically chained in the Community and his deadly affair with Kayla both indicate his darker impulses. Throughout the middle of the novel, he terrorizes Mia by leaving apples and apple tree leaves where she is likely to encounter them. He calls her repeatedly when she moves to New York and finally follows her to Nathaniel’s time to retrieve the deed to the Community property. In addition to embodying masculine danger, Joel represents the haunting influence of Mia’s past, following her into all her hiding places and threatening her individuality and success. Mia’s final act in the novel is to lock him in the barn, leaving him in the past and rising victorious into her own future.