I picked a copy of To the Lighthouse at a book fair one day, when I decided to finally bring back my reading habit. I hadn’t read anything by Virginia Woolf before, but her name was shelved in most bookstores that I visited. So, I wanted to see what the old hype was about. The synopsis interested me, though I was convinced to buy it before I even read it. I judged the book by its cover.
But let me say that this wasn’t a page turner for me. It could be that I hadn’t read a book in a long time, or that my Gen Z brain couldn’t grasp the so called masterpiece of a work that Mrs. Woolf produced.
So what is the book about?
To The Lighthouse is a 20th century fiction novel about a family going on a vacation to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It particularly highlights the day before a gathering for dinner, exploring the family members that make up the Ramsays, and also exploring their friends. From the authoritative and intellectual Mr. Ramsay, to the patient and beautiful Mrs. Ramsay, to the children, to the painter, Lily Briscoe, we go through them all. It is a journey through tension, grief, and anticipation.
Story analysis:
The book is divided into three sections: The Window, Time Passes, and The Lighthouse. Here is my breakdown of each section:
The Window is a psycological journey through the characters’ minds. Virginia Woolf familiarizes us with the characters, and she does a phenomenol job at that. One intriguing element in this story is the dynamic between James, the Ramsay’s youngest son and his father. Once James asked his mother if they would go to the lighthouse the next day, to which James’s father interjected rudely and said that they won’t go. This infuriated James, and his mother thought that he will never forget this. And Mrs. Ramsay was right, as when James became older, we learn that he still hated his father. The Window was a long section, and I didn’t know where the story was really going (I only wanted to go to the lighthouse as much as James did.)
Then I started reading Time Passes, and all I could think of was: “This is ridiculous”. Time Passes is a very short section that spans an entire decade in the story, when the Ramsays and everyone else have abandoned the house. The narrative was fast, and I was exposed to the deterioration of the house, and the tragedies that unfolded in that ten-year time period. It was particularly shocking to me when I read about the death of three characters and not read about the consequences of their death. I was looking for the part where the family mourned their passing, but it was no where to be found.
It was only when I reached The Lighthouse (pun intended), with my simple brain, that I realized the brilliance in Virginia’s work. Through reading further, I learned of the bigger picture. The first section had been psycological; the second (Time Passes) had been almost out of touch with human emotions, everything seemed distant despite the close proximity of the object/person in question; the third section (The Lighthouse) starts with Mr. Ramsay and his children coming back, weary and grim. They represent the aftermath of war. This section employs the same narrative as in the first section. It is deep. It is human. I had to only wait to know how the characters responded to tragedies. I had to only see them years after those tragedies happened, how they were different now in comparison to their older selves. The atmosphere was cold, and when Mr. Ramsay needed sympathy the most, James (now 16 years old) and Cam would not give it to him. The characters finally go to the lighthouse after 10 years, and the story ends there, with them having come to their own resolutions.
Character breakdowns (for some of them):
The characters were very interesting. Some contrasted one another; others shared subtle similarities.
Mr. Ramsay is a metaphysician, and having contributed a lot to his field, we find him pondering about what would become of his legacy. He gauges the intellect of mankind using the alphabets, A being the lowest level of intellect and Z being the highest, and he puts himself at Q. However, he can’t seem to make it to R, let alone Z. Although he is bad-tempered and rude with others, sometimes, he finds himself in a state of despair, looking for reassurance about his work and sympathy from his wife and friends.
Charles Tansley, dubbed by the children as “the little atheist”, is an insecure, young philosopher (and one of my favorite characters). He is often rude to others. Though, just like Mr. Ramsay, we find him looking for reassurance sometimes.
Lily Briscoe is a painter and a friend of the Ramsays. She rejects conventional femininity, and like Mr. Ramsay, she worries about the fate of her work. Once while she was painting, Charles Tansley said to her: “Women can’t write, women can’t write”. We later learn that what he said still bothered her.
Mrs. Ramsay is the opposite of Mr Ramsay. She is patient and kind. Everyone finds Mrs. Ramsay to be beautiful. She makes it her duty to treat everyone equally.
My overall thoughts
I liked the book to some extent. I liked the characters a lot. They are well written, well described. And the family dynamic was fresh to me, as I hadn't read anything like it before. My problem with the book was that it started to get too long, too mundane. It wasn’t a page turner for me, but I am glad I read it.