" To The Lighthouse" Blog task

                             " To The Lighthouse"

           Here are my answers according to the task given by Dr. Dilip Barad

           Click here for the Blog link of given task.

(1)               Virginia Woolf is the master of stream of consciousness. she was fully conscious of the inadequacy of human relationship. one of the main reason of the failure to establish satisfactory human relationship is that the words are main source of communication between one-another. but sometimes words fail to express full complexity of a character's thought and and feelings. so sometimes they become misleading. Mrs.Woolf was aware about it so she tried stream of consciousness technique. Ms.Lily thought that,

" About life, about death: about Mrs.  Ramsay- no she thought one could say nothing to nobody. words fluttered sideways and struck the object to low. how could one express in words these emotions of the body?"

                    More often Lily realize that silence is more expressive than the words. sometimes silence leads towards healthy relationship. what Mrs. Woolf has experienced she beautifully put all those things in the character of Ms.Lily, struggle of an artist, restriction of society etc. Lily has gift of visualizing the past, Characters of Mr.Ramsay and Mrs.Ramsay through her eyes, her  vision. all this things are narrated in interior monologues. in this way she conveys a sense of the amazing richness and complexity of life. 

(2)              Mrs. is middle-aged woman, mother of eight children. despite her age she is a woman of great physical charm. we find several compliments for example " The happier Helen of our times". she polite and kind hearted.  Good care taker of home, husband,children and guests. she is dominated figure in the novel. she is the great creator of harmony or we can say that she is bridge among the children and husband. She also played a vital role of match-maker. she brings Paul and Minta together. also she wanted to bring Lily and Bankes together. Critics believe that she herself is an artist, who creates " work of art" through her works. her art is not less valuable than Mr.Ramsay and Lily. she is the preserver of culture. and we find her influence even after her death. 

                Critics like 'James Hafley' are of the view that Mrs.Ramsay is merely a symbol, that she has not been individualized. and that is why the novelist has not given her first name.but we can consider her character as someone who prevents the integration of the family while she lives. family members come nearer after the death of her. novel shows her to be an absolute matriarch. who wants to control everyone's life. every time make interfere in everyone's matter. 

(3)          Mrs. Woolf stresses the atmosphere of freedom in their family life-" the right to think one's own thought and to follow one's own pursuits". and choose one's own profession.  his father said that "read what you like'' and his lesson  in the art of reading was, "  To read what one liked because one liked it never to pretend to admire what one did not." We can find all this characteristics in the character of Lily. por we can say that Lily is the writer herself. who is fully devoted to her work of art and completely believes in freedom. 

             On the other hand we can observe that novel is stands for Mrs.Ramsay as well. because she stands as lighthouse, supporter, care-taker for all the family members and even for the guests. 

              So, Novel gives equal weightage to both the characters. 

(4)          There are several myths in the novel which was explored unconsciously by the writer. such as the myth of "Demeter and Porsephone" a mother goddess of fertility and reproduction. in the same way Mrs.Ramsay is also can be consider as goddess  who is the mother of eight children. The Oedipus complex in james that he hates his father and more connected with his mother. Myth of Kronos- Rhea -Zeus. it represents Mr.Ramsay as Kronos, Mrs.Ramsay as Rhea and James as Zeus. 

             Male phallic symbol represents feminine Mrs.Ramsay  because we find matriarchy in the novel she is the controller of all the life so she behaves like patriarch. 

(5)        Kunstlerroman word deals with the youth and development of individual who becomes or on the threshold of becoming painter,musician, or poet. 

             we can find this element in the character of Ms.Lily, Carmichael and Mr.Ramsay who want to become painter, poet and great philosopher respectively. and also the sort of struggles that they face to make their dream true. 

(6)        One of the daughters of Mrs.Ramsay was fully obedient to her so it results in her death. so this incident gives us a view that the way in which Mrs.Ramsay lives or tries to grown up her children is dangerous one. 

(7)        Novel entirely written in stream  of consciousness, where there is important role of central intelligence, writer has used parentheses and complex sentence structure, novel has poetic beauty which is not very easy to understand. 

            On the contrary movie appeals more because one can visualize everything. it effects more to the students.

(8)        " Symbolically, the part returns and shapes the present. Mrs.Ramsay comes back into Lily's picture as she had been part of the original design ten years before,and out of this meeting of two very different personalities across the years the final insight results. Across the water t the same moment Mr.Ramsay by praise of Jame's handling of the boat, is exorcising the ghost of jame's early resentment,also ten years old, and all the threads of the story are finally coming together. it is a masterly piece of construction." - "David Daiches"

            It is this vision of Mrs.Ramsay which enables her to complete her picture. throughout the life Mrs.Ramsay  tried to unite her family members which become possible after her death which we can visualize in Lily's painting.

(9)       Refrigerator is the symbol of change and technology, and also preserver of something. it can be compelled with Mrs.Ramsay who is also the preserver of the culture. and Catalogue of navy and Army is connected with consumerism.

(10)     Novelist has used the tale of "Fisherman and his wife" which is told by Mrs.Ramsay to james. in which wife is too much demanding. in this way writer makes a satire on Mrs.Ramsay that how she grown up her child with such ideas. that she nurtured her child for such typical ideology. 

(11)     In "To the Lighthouse" India is referred  as place of desire ...... desire to visit, made in India jewelry is a thing to possessed,the person who is "India return" is consider as respectable such as carmichael, boy child is more valuable for more than girls such as james.

           Above things we can find in the novel which evokes the Indian Culture.   (Tilak, 1976)

Works Cited

Tilak, D. R. (1976). To the Lighthouse (Critical study) (Vol. 1). New Delhi, New Delhi: Rama Brothers.