"To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf (pt. 1 of 2)

I've come to appreciate To the Lighthouse the same way I found F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby a memorable book. Virginia Woolf is able to weave spectacularly strong imagery into her stream-of-consciousness writing, creating an interesting atmosphere of a dreamy reality; there is a nostalgic feeling that comes with the mundane description of nature. I haven't quite been able to put my finger on why Woolf's writing is so powerfully evocative, but her writing creates a sense of disconnect, detachment, or even separation between individuals. This separation, I believe, is much like the separation of individuals today; that is, this modern (if not, postmodern) movement toward fierce individualism. Although technology has connected disparate parts of the world, this close connection is taken for granted and, I believe, has also added a new element of separation (for instance, social media or virtual reality websites). Maybe that's why Woolf struck such a powerful note with me.

The first section, "The Window," was similar to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. There are similar themes of the family, of love, and of marriage. Although there were some interesting moments in this first part, I was really hit by the transition to the second part, "Time Passes." For instance, I began to understand why Mrs. Ramsy thinks that her son James, when told that they won't be going to the lighthouse, "he will remember that all his life" (62). What I had taken for granted in part one was suddenly taken away from me in the next section; as time passed, relationships wavered, and people died, the vivid contrast between part one and two suggests the major theme of this novel: change.

I will now go ahead and make a cliched and cheesy interpretation; with change, comes hope. In the distance, there is that lighthouse--that shining beacon of hope. Similar to the green light at the end of the dock that haunts Gatsby, the beacon of hope always stands against the backdrop of our everyday lives; the distant blurry silhouette of the lighthouse. Maybe that's just an obvious simple-minded reading, but the themes of change and hope are undoubtedly universal themes of humanity. Change is our only constant (cliched, I know); and if it were not for hope, why would we bother get out of bed everyday?



[note: this post has not been in anyway funded by the Obama campaign]