Similarities between Mr and Mrs. Ramsay

When we first started reading the book, one of our first discussion questions was about similarities within the novel. At first, I saw no similarities; afterward I reread the text closely and found similarities between William Banks and Mr. Ramsay. Similarly, I found that Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe had a lot of things in common as well. I still didn't find any comparisons between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay.
My first impressions of the Ramsay family ended up being the complete opposite of what Woolf had intended. I thought that Mr. Ramsay was a pompous, self-absorbed and extremely bitter man. Surprisingly, after further readings I've come to realize that he really isn't as harmful as he seemed; I realized that he was actually very respectable , loving and kind.

"he could not help noting, as he passed, the sternness at the heart of her beauty. It saddened him, and her remoteness pained him, and he felt, as he passed, that he could not protect her, and when he reached the hedge, he was sad. He could do nothing to help her." (Woolf p.54)

Mr.Ramsay clearly displays his affection and emotions toward his wife. Perhaps he is intimidated by her, or scared to show her how much he cares. But, one can see as the text continues more details about how he feels about her. He clearly cares for her greatly and wants to be the man that James claims he could never be. However, I don't think he knows how to express those emotions. I think that Mr. Ramsay is actually a lot more timid than the beginning states.
From the first passages, he takes on the role of being conceited and mean because his son, James, dislikes him. However, I realized that James' opinion isn't the only person who knows Mr.Ramsay's character; actually Mrs. Ramsay seems to be quite fond of her husband, and revers him greatly.
Similarly, Mrs. Ramsay isn't the same character I thought she was either. At first, I thought of Mrs. Ramsay as this angelic, loving and family-oriented woman. However, as I continued on in the text I was shocked to see that she was almost the complete opposite of what I thought she was. Mrs. Ramsay, once alone, is a dark and gloomy character who is extremely pessimistic, claiming that all lives remain in the "lords hands".

"This core of darkness could go anywhere, for no one saw it. They could not stop it, she thought, exulting. There was freedom, there was peace, there was, most welcome of all, a summoning together, a resting on a platform of stability. Not as oneself did one find rest ever, in her experience (she accomplished here something dexterous with her needles), but as a wedge of darkness. Losing personality one lost the fret, the hurry, the stir; and there rose her lips always some exclamation of triumph over life when things came togetrher in this peace, this rest, this eternity," (Woolf p.53)

The idea that she seems so loving and kind isn't necessarily false, maybe she is. However, I believe she puts on a mask while with her children. When she's alone, she seems to be depressed and almost trapped; Mrs. Ramsay acts as though she hates her life and wants another one. The impression the reader gets after this passage is that she craves something new, she craves stability and personality, this essentially means that she believes she doesn't have stability or personality. When she's alone, she seems to crave even more solitude. However, when she's with her family she acts almost as if she is a completely different person.
While I believed Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay to be like polar opposites, I ended up finding a very strong similarity between the two. Both Mr and Mrs. Ramsay are shy and conceal themselves, but, the strongest idea that shone through was beauty. They both describe each other, in secret, as beautiful.

To The Lighthouse Response: Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay

Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay, although they bond over their love for their children and the love they have for each other, are extremely different in the way they live their everyday lives. Mr. Ramsay, an introvert, is immersed deeply within his philosophical search, blinded by his need for fame and greatness. He craves power and superiority and as a result, treats the people around him in a firm and cruel manner, especially with his children, in order to feel on top. Mrs. Ramsay on the other hand is, for the most part, an extrovert and a provider for everyone in the story who all seem to need her in some way or another. Mr. Ramsay needs her to boost his ego and is thus presented in a pitiful, even pathetic light He is in need of sympathy partly because he reached his greatest success in his twenties and has since produced only mediocre work. He is mostly in need of this sympathy because he is having a type of crisis. He is doubting his thoughts, his work, and his ability to continue to make the philosophical progression through the alphabet to Z. He also has a great desire to have phenomenal fame and success but I don't think he is entirely sure why he really wants this at all. He puts a great deal of pressure on himself to reach 'R', "A shutter, like the leathern eyelid of a lizard, flickered over the intensity of his gaze and obscured the letter R. In that flash of darkness he heard people saying-he was a failure-that R was beyond him. He would never reach R." (31) and it seems as though he thinks the people around him, Mrs. Ramsay, his children, won't really appreciate him unless he reaches this type of enlightenment. In reality, however, Mrs. Ramsay would go on loving him no matter what, and would be content if Mr. Ramsay simply was nicer to James. She knows that he is struggling, that "his last book wasn't his best" and she is okay with that. Similarly, James would be happy if his father might merely entertain the idea of going to the lighthouse. He and the rest of the children would probably stay content even if their father wasn't the next Aristotle but simply less abrasive and more father-like.

What is the Lighthouse?

The Lighthouse holds a special place in the novel so far, as the place everyone looks toward with longing but can't get to. The lighthouse seems to mean something different to each of the three main characters in the Ramsay family (Mr Ramsay, Mrs Ramsay, and James) but surely there is some common attraction to the lighthouse that motivates all the characters. It is from Mrs. Ramsay's perspective that we first get a concrete description of the lighthouse. "The hoary lighthouse, distant, austere, in the midst [of the great plateful of blue water]," is how Mrs. Ramsay first describes the lighthouse. This reflects what Mrs. Ramsay sees in the lighthouse: isolation. Even though her nature and position leads her to surround herself with people, among them her husband, 8 children, and all the poor house-guests she invites in (it seems that all of them are people with nowhere to go). Mrs. Ramsay, as expressed on page 52 needs alone time to just think, and for her the lighthouse promises the quiet, austere, cerebral atmosphere she desires. That she thinks this is evident in the image of her sitting and knitting, thinking all the while, and noticing the beam of the lighthouse through the window. This image of the lighthouse as litterally a light in the dark is very powerful in the way it reveals what Mrs Ramsay truly thinks and feels about the lighthouse.
Mr Ramsey too looks out to the lighthouse with longing. We learn from Mrs. Ramsay that his favorite view from their summer home is that of the lighthouse from the terrace where he takes his evening walks. Mr Ramsay seems to wish to go to the lighthouse for the same reasons as Mrs Ramsay, except that for him the lighthouse seems to represent some greater truth, something which can only be attained by going there. Mr Ramsay often in his musings mixes together the idea of the lighthouse and the idea of his progression from Q to R and then beyond. It is interesting to note that Mr Ramsay seems to temper his desire to go to the lighthouse with his rational understanding that tomorrow the weather will prevent him from traveling there. This is very unlike Mrs Ramsay and James, who still hope for good weather even when they know it will not be.
James, a 7-8 year old boy, sees the simple mystique of adventure in the lighthouse. It's described as a place of legend, as though it were right out of a story...

Influence

Central to this novel, To the Lighthouse, is the theory of relationship. Mr. Ramsay, a man as much loved as he his hated for his philosophies, is studying “the influence of something on somebody,” (pg14). The reader, while Mr. Ramsay himself is pondering the intricacies of his philosophies, notices that clearly it is the relationships between characters that most obviously influence each individual. In order to further research this concept, one has to first examine this description of Mr. Ramsay’s work in more detail. At first glance, it is extremely vague, without connection to the broader context of the novel. However, if one then reviews the reading so far, this ambiguity reappears, except, this time in the musings of Mrs. Ramsay, and her observations of another relationship. Mrs. Ramsay gives this simple insight into her own relationship with her husband stating: “Marriage needed—oh all sorts of qualities (the bill for the greenhouse would be fifty pounds); one—she need not name it—that was essential; the thing she had with her husband.” (pg 50). This leads the reader to observe, as Lily Briscoe does, what lies beneath the “apparitions, the things you know us by…” (pg 53), and discover what that essential quality of human relations is, what gives relationships meaning. Furthermore, in connection with Mr. Ramsay's study, if one can derive the meaning of the relationship, one can then understand that influence that the "certain qualities" has on each individual. Once that has been revealed, one will know why it is Mr. Ramsay, "resolved,no; he would not interrupt her..." and from what "he wished, she knew, to protect her." (pg 55). It is this influence of each character on another that is so striking in this novel, and a theme that reflects the true aims of the author, one of which appears to be how relationships affect human nature.

Retreat

The idea of retreat is essential to the plot and relationships that characters develop in To the Lightouse.
The concept behind retreat is to take time out of daily habits. Having removed themselves from their working environments, the characters reveal themselves in their interactions with others and Woolf's introspection into their minds.
The first character who rejoices in his vacation is James. He eagerly sits and cuts out pictures from a catalogue hoping to visit the Lighthouse, all his actions filled with his excitement of the short journey. In contrast to James' anxiety to travel is Mr. Ramsay's cold logic and Tansley's echoing sarcasm. Their attitudes show that even during this break, they still have not relaxed but remain tense and overbearing. They take themselves too seriously and add up the success of their arguments and their achievements to a sense of self-import. Thus is the role of Mrs. Ramsay, the great neutralizer who notes the difficulty of seclusion and relaxation that Tansley is "the hundred and tenth young man to cahse them all the way up to the Hebrides when it was ever so much nicer to be alone." The need to be alone and contemplate is something that pervades all the characters, each using the time to understand themselves but to comtemplate their purpose and appreciate natural untangible things that feeds the mind. On page 14, Mrs. Ramsay describes the view of the Lighthouse which her husband so greatly enjoys yet puts off visiting and how the scenery is so eden-like that even artists venture there to paint. The fact that Mr. Ramsay avoids the Lightouse I think has to do with his P,Q argument of logics and his inability to reach R. What's important here is that Mr. Ramsay is brooding these things while he is not in his academic environment, not discussing what he fondly calls 'nonsense' but undergoing a self-evaluation during holiday. Perhaps the Lighthouse is a threshold, an unachievable end until he comes to terms with himelf, perhaps visiting the Ligthouse is his climatic ascent to R. Stylistically, Woolf paces her writing slow, out of time and place, here the continual work of being at home or study has no power but instead the power of relaxation lays bare the flaws of duty and work in the real world.

James

Throughout the reading I have been attracted to James. His burning passion of hatred of his father has drawn me to him. He has this raging passion to murder his father and this has caused me to analyze him. James seems like a warm loving person when he is around his mother. All he shows his love and affection towards his mother. Once he is with his father it seems that all this love dissipates and he is filled with burning desire to kill his father. "But his on hated him. He hated him for coming up to them, for stopping and looking down on them; he hated him for interrupting them; he hated him for the exaltation and sublimity of his gestures; for the magnificence of his head" (pg. 33). James can be very moody at times and refuse to associate with the world. His father causes him to feel this way because of Mr. Ramasays continual emotionless love towards James. James only has a burning desire to kill his father is because he doesn't show the same love that his mother does. James is searching for the same love his mother provides. Mr. Ramasy not only doesn't show any real emotion, but he intrudes on James' relationship with his mother. James feels that his father is polluting the relationship with his mother and feels that he is competing for the love and affection of his mother.

Lilly Briscoe

Lily Briscoe has appeared to be a very important character in "To the Lighthouse." First described by Mrs. Ramsey with her "little Chinese eyes and her puckered-up face, she would never marry; one could not take her painting very seriously; but she was an independent little creature." Lily is a houseguest at the Ramsey's house, and has developed intense feelings towards not only Mrs. Ramsey, but also the life that this family leads. Lily is very in touch with her surroundings, and very aware as to what is going on at all moments. On page 18, the reader receives the first piece of writing from the perspective of Lily as the narrator. It is evident that she is very aware of her scenery at all times, "even while she looked at the mass, at the line, at the color, at Mrs. Ramsey sitting in the window with James, she kept a feeler on her surroundings lest someone should creep up, and she should find her picture looked at." This is a very clear example of how Lily is aware of her surroundings. Through Lily's awareness, she is very in touch with the family and can therefore develop a connection to them and their lives. Along with being a houseguest, Lily is a painter. In the first few chapters we are introduced to the fact that Lily is attempting to paint a picture of Mrs. Ramsey, and that she feels the need for every brush to be perfection. Through being a guest at the Ramsey household, Lily has developed a strong sense of connection with Mrs. Ramsey. This connection is almost to the extent that she wanted to, "fling herself at Mrs. Ramsey's knee and say to her- but what could one say to her? 'I'm in love with you'? But, that was not true. ' I'm in love with this all', waving her hand at the hedge, at the house, at the children?" It is not Mrs. Ramsey herself who Lily has developed the connection towards, yet to the life that she leads. Lily yearns for this idealistic life that she feels she witnesses at the house. While Lily is alone, with no kids or husband, Mrs. Ramsey shares the company and love of a husband and eight individual children. Lily appears to have become infatuated with the life that Mrs. Ramsey leads, " for she is in love with them all, in love with this world." Another love that we have witnessed Lily experience is the love towards William Bankes, another houseguest of the Ramsey family. On page 23, Lily describes in length her feelings towards Mr. Bankes, "she felt herself transfixed by the intensity of her perception; it was his severity; his goodness. I respect you." Overall, as a reader we are just being introduced to Lily Briscoe and have only seen a glimpse of who she appears to be.

Mr. Ramsay

Mr Ramsay is a very complex and interesting character who contemplates everything about everyday life. Throughout what we have read so far however, he seems to have this incredible inward conflict with himself over whether his philosophies should override reality. As a philosopher, his job is to analyze everything about life, however it feels as though this takes away from his actual experience in the actual life of which he is constantly critiquing. A common misconception, i feel, is that Mr Ramsay is a raging pestimist and described by Lily as "petty, selfish, vain, egotistical, spoilt, a tyrant, and wears mrs. Ramsay to death."(pg 23) In reality i believe that he only appears to be those things due to an overwhelming amount of knowledge. When he tell his son that it is not probable they will visit the lighthouse the next day, he is only telling the direct truth. His knowledge tells him that it will still be raining the next day, however until reaching the "R" of philosophical greatness he will not know what is the correct way to take in such problems of life. I find it very interesting how he is a philosopher by nature and contains so much knowledge about the world, however the more knowledge he obtains the further and further away he gets from normality. Mrs. Ramsay, his wife, is not a philosopher and looks up to him incredibly, however in the text she possesses a sense of worldly knowledge just from mere experience.

Mr. & Mrs. Ramsay

"Beneath it is all dark, it is all spreading, it is unfathomably deep; but now and again we rise to the surface and that is what you see us by." (pg 53)

This quote defines Mrs. Ramsay's internal conflict. When first introduced to her, the reader sees this kind, compassionate woman who is almost saintly because she raises 8 children, houses guests, and deals with an impossible husband. However, when she finds time to sit by herself, the real Mrs. Ramsay surfaces. She loves her children yet she has her favorites. She tortures herself with thoughts of being left alone once her smallest children grow up. She doesn't want them to grow up, to leave their happy times and enter the world of adulthood. "For that reason, knowing what was before them--love and ambition and being wretched alone in dreary places--she had often the feeling, why must they grow up and lose it all? " ( pg 51) As she sits alone, Mrs. Ramsay spends her time trying to convince herself that her children will grow up to be happy instead of distant like herself. "And then she said to herself, brandishing her sword at life, nonsense. They will be perfectly happy." (pg 51) This stems from her own pessimism and her combat against it. She truely wants to be the person the reader her first saw her as, however her own happiness in life has led her to the place she is in now. It is almost as if she had switched places with her husband. He loved her, he admired her, yet she hated the fact that he couldn't appreciate the small things such as a flower. Just as he had become annoyed with the her over something as small as a white lie, she was annoyed with his inabilities to escape the intellectual world. The original Mrs. Ramsay the reader saw would've accepted his flaws rather than using it as fuel for her own.

(it's not completely done...will be edited later.)

Response to Woolf

Mr. Ramsay lacks confidence and needs his wife’s support so he can feel like a great man. He reasons that human kinds' advancements are attained through the work of great men. He is concerned with his image and whether or not he will be considered one of these men or if he will even be remembered after he dies. Mr. Ramsay is in the middle of his mid-life crisis and is struggling to advance his thought process. Although he has some impressive achievements he still doubts his own intelligence. His struggle to reach the letter R has left him wondering whether people will admire his work for generations to come. "The very stone one kicks with one's boot will outlast Shakespeare. His own little light would shine, not very brightly, for a year or two, and then be merged into some bigger light, and that in a bigger still"(32). He is wrapped up in his own insignificance and his current struggle to surpass what he has already done.

Relationship b/w Mr & Mrs Ramsay

On page 55, Woolf shows the understanding that Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay mutually share about their relationship. Through their lack of words, it is shown that both value each other and their personal space. In the final paragraph of section 11 Mr. Ramsay wants desperately to reach out to Mrs. Ramsay in her sadness and despair, but by allowing her to wallow, it shows that he understands her need to be alone. This passage says a lot about Mr. Ramsay, as up until this point he appeared to be a negligent father and husband.

It also shows a lot about Mrs. Ramsay, and that though she is able to have her thoughts and deal with her own problems for a moment, she must also allow her husband to feel as if he is useful. She went to him "For he wished, she knew, to protect her." Knowing that he does in fact have the best interests in mind, she feels obliged to continue to please him, rather than stay in a moment that she finds appealing.

In this moment, both Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay are taking actions to please the other rather then themselves--Mr. Ramsay allows her to stay in her mindset of seclusion while Mrs. Ramsay forces herself to leave this mindset so that he can have a feeling of usefulness. Even in attempting to please each other, Mr. Ramsay is the only one truly happy at the end of the moment. Is this necessarily a selfish act on his part, because he outwardly appears so self-centered, or is their relationship naturally off balance?

To The Lighthouse

From reading, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf the understanding of balance keeps coming to my mind. There is Mrs. and Mr. Ramsey who both seem to contrast each other so well, since each display and extreme. Mr. Ramsey comes straight out with saying James will not go to the lighthouse due to weather. Mrs. Ramsey however says they will probably be able to go and still prepares for the trip.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey lack any balance in their personalities. Mrs. Ramsey is compassionate, sympathetic, and loves to give, however she can avoids the truth in order to protect others feelings. Mr. Ramsey is the opposite he is always willing to give the brutal truth without caring of others opinion. This can make Mr. Ramsey feel good when he’s right.
Despite Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey lacking balanced personalities they fit together like a puzzle. They are form a ying yang when together. They are a great example for the cliché saying opposites attract. Mr. Ramsey has some need for the feeling of power and dominance, is strictly rational and very stern. At the same time we learn a lot about Mrs. Ramsey too she is instantly there to wound her sounds emotional cuts when his dad upsets him. Mrs. Ramsey is always there for everyone to make them feel better and provide sympathy. This one short time period of the dad telling the son no and the mom saying its will be ok, can leave you with a very good picture of the relationship between the three of them.

Mr. Ramsay

Initially, Mr. Ramsay struck me as a cocky individual who constantly needed to be reminded of his significance and brilliance."It was sympathy he wanted, to be assured of his genius, first of all, and then to be taken within the circle of life, warmed and soothed, to have his senses restored to him, his barrenness made fertile.." (page 37). It seemed that Mr. Ramsay needed his wife to idolize him and boost his bravado. I refused to sympathize with an individual who seemed to rely on his wife solely for reassurance. Later, when he stood alone on the hill and we got a sense of his vulnerabilities and uncertainty, I realized that his seemingly "cocky" persona was merely a facade. "It was a disguise; it was the refuge of a man afraid to own his own feelings," (page 45). Here, we gain insight into Mr. Ramsay's character and his insecurities. Despite the fact that Mr. Ramsay is brutally honest with his children, and to "sugar-coat" his stories truly wouldn't prove to be too inconvenient, i don't feel that Mr. Ramsay does this with bad intentions in mind, rather, i feel that due to his profession as a philosopher, he sees the truth as necessary and lying as more harmful. Mr. Ramsay is a character that truly cannot be judged within the first several sections of the book.
On page 38, Mr. Ramsay talked to himself which revealed a lot about his character, "If he put implicit faith in her, nothing should hurt him; however deep he buried himself or climbed high, not for a second should he find himself without her." Already, we see how dependent Mr. Ramsay is upon his wife not only for compliments, but also for safety. The fact that he relies so heavily upon Mrs. Ramsay shows that his facade is more of an appearance he attempts to put on for his peers. In his house, his walls come down and he implores his wife to reassure him. Upon exiting the house, Mr. Ramsay can put his "mask" back on and enable the world to assume that he's a brilliant, self-assured, philosopher.

A London Adventure: Response

The essay is about appreciating what one sees during everyday life. The simple beauty of everyday goings on can be easily lost in the sole minded search for one's own goal. Finding her goal simply marked the end of her wandering and observing. It allowed for her story to begin and end but. She needed a goal in order to justify her journey through the city. The journey is described by the people around her and her attempts to understand what they were feeling. She seemed to focus on other people and their journeys in life. The dwarf woman struck me in the essay. By focusing only on her normal sized feet the narrator seems to forget that the dwarf is deformed. After the dwarf’s normal feet are out of focus the reality of her state comes back into the spotlight: “the ecstasy faded, knowledge returned, the old peevishness, the apology came back,”( 4). The language shifts from when we first meet the dwarf to after we see her feet and then back again. She is first described as having an “apologetic expression”. Her feet were then described as “aristocratic” and that “she looked soothed and satisfied”. This change is interesting, and is a positive message about searching for the beauty in all things.

a little bit of insight into an imagination..

Virginia Woolf welcomes the reader to her own personality through her style of writing in this piece. She grabs the reader’s hand when she mentions the universally recognized lead pencil, which is so malleable in its uses. The pencil represents the capability to recreate- take what has been done and gradually change it, which is what Woolf does through her essay’s journey. In fact, the pencil is really just an excuse to take the reader on her journey through the London streets. The journey, as are many of the journeys we have studied in this course, takes the protagonist full circle. The journey is a journey of experience and observation. Our protagonist introduces us to the range of lives of the London streets. The tone of the piece carries the reader through this journey, peaking at the entrance of each new character. First, however, we are brought into a setting where “in winter the champagne brightness of the air and the sociability of the streets are grateful.” After examining this statement further, the words themselves are the setting. Champagne brightness conjures up Christmas festivities, the bubbling of the champagne-colored light echoes onomatopoeically in “sociability.” The alliteration of “sociability of the streets,” also embraces the reader’s attention having lured her in with the often passionless, yet on occasion, that supreme desire to obtain that seemingly and, “accidentally, but miraculously sprinkled with beauty,” mundane lead pencil. Woolf’s image of the pearls gives insight into her imaginative twisting of reality into unreality. She draws the picture of these characters on the street and then goes further to comment on their lives behind the scenes she witnesses. “Let us choose those pearls, for example, and then imagine how, if we put them on, life would be changed.”

Street Haunting: A London Bridge Adventure response (final)

This essay is about different people in the world and how other individuals percieve them. Without really ever knowing someone, one can always look at them from the outside with a positive perspective. "Passing, glimpsing, everything seems accidentally but miraculously sprinkled with beauty...with no though of b uying, the eye is sportive ang generous; it creates;it adorms; it enhances." We are only given a mere glimpse into indiviuals lives, the moments we spend with them are all we are left to know about them. "Into each of these lives one could pentrate a little way, far enough to give oneself the illusion that one is not tethered to a single mind, but can put on briefly for a few minutes the bodies and minds of others." We put a mask over the harsh realities of the world, like the homeless, and the blind, and the crippled, and try to tell ourselves that regardless of their true state, they in fact live a good life and they too have something to go home to each night. In this essay Woolf gives us these images and different types of people and she then chooses to create imagery and inferences of her own. When we pass an individual on the street the observer knows nothing more then what the common eye sees, yet in this essay Woolf is expressing the fact that we feel the need to cover up what their lives could be and paint them in a positive light in order to make ourselves feel better. In the end of the day, the most comforting thing to the individual is still themselves, and their home. While each "room is a new adventure," yet "still as we approach our own doorstep again, it is comforting to feel the old possessions, the old prejudices, fold us round."

Street Haunting: A London Adventure

The essay is about how we pass individuals without knowing them or there background, yet we paint them in a positive light. We don't know them personally, but we tell ourselves that there living a positive life in order for us to feel better. We try to block out all the negative aspects of that person and believe that there living positively. We do not wish to look at that person's past since the way they present themselves is better. We do this everyday when were walking on the street and strangers walk past us. We are only recognizing that person as we see them currently, we don't recognize that person's past.
The tone of the piece seems to gets gradually angrier. The voice is very angry and passionate. She sets out to describe her feelings and thoughts without knowing where she'll end up. She pours out her emotions and her mood at this point in her life into this essay. Her mood and voice carries this essay. It feels that a certain depression lingers on in her and that she feels the need to describe her feelings through her essays.

Elements of Woolf's Journey

Woolf definitely leads the reader and herself through the experience of perusing London all for the sake of a lead pencil. Like James Joyce's Ulysses, Woolf both literally and figuratively trails off weaving together her thoughts and what she has seen in a train of thought fashion. The journey is not only a walking journey but a thinking journey. As Woolf walks she takes note of things like the dwarf, the butcher's window and the boy leading the two blind men. The journey is described with an ardent curiosity, which is both mysterious and complex as Woolf continues to delve deeper than the scope of the eye. Woolf emphasizes the experienced life not a life propped by the objects one acquires. The journey is described not with color but rhythmn and sound, it also speculates on emotions and deals with the the stages of the journey by creating scenarios and episodes. The emotions she feels also seems to help her write as she describes the desolation that causes her to linger on. Woolf approaches everything with a matter of fact neutrality, she maintains a contrast in her writing between light and dark, the seen and the unseen. What defines the piece is the opposition between the mental and material world.

London

This essay does not focus on one character in an extreme but several characters some unique but others so normal, all who forgo some sort of journey in their own world. For the midget just going to the shoe store was her place to escape, to feel, special, and mostly to feel normal. another chacarater enjoys venturing off into her own town in winter because its not normal like the other months, there are no distractions, the streets are quiet and she really enjoys this mini journey, nevertheless shes needs a back bone, her home. After wandering the streets its great to go back to the place you call home. She does not try to cut off all of her other ties when on her journey like chris McCadnles did. Her journey was comfortable and easy. Despite being a grown adult it is odd to me that she needs an excuse to wander. Why cant someone just go for a walk, why cant she just wander the city she calls her home. Maybe she needs to justify to herself why she is wasting time that she doesn't have to waste in her adult life. Or possibly do you need some sort of goal no matter how irrelevant or small it is to set of on this journey of hers. So its not the goal that is important in this cases, its the mere fact of having a goal. You are not wasting time, you are not wandering the streets without reason, you are simply trying to accomplish a goal. Chris had a set goal set in place too that at times was very far away from his actions, like delaying and taking time off and working at Mcdonalds or living with me for a time. I think we should all have goals, but we also need to have spontaneity and the freedom to be able to do whatever, forget everything and just do something we enjoy whether its taking an hour and walking around the streets in the winter or anything else.

Street Haunting: A London Adventure

8.

I think that the essayist does, in fact, stay consistent with the class definition of a Journey. The journey portrayed in this writing is on a much smaller scale, although it most definitely qualifies as a certain type of voyage; one around the London streets. It is extremely descriptive in the portrayal of the surrounding of the streets. For instance when Woolf says, "How beautiful a London street is then, with its islands of light, and its long groves of darkness, and on one side of it perhaps some tree-sprinkled, grass-grown space where night is folding herself to sleep naturally and, as one passes a iron railing, one hear those little cracklings and stirrings of leaf and twig which seem to suppose the silence of fields all round them, an owl hooting..." I mean we must remember that the purpose of her journey here on the surface, is buying a pencil. Yes, this is a goal, yet, the overall goal is only meant to thwart her smaller goal. She does this in order to give herself some time to wander around the London streets. She purposefully concentrates on small, seemingly futile objects and parts of the city, and then really goes on a mental journey through her existence. Her trip to the store to get a pencil really defines her as more of a meandering wanderer.

"Street Haunting: A London Adventure"

On the streets of London there is much to be seen. Virginia Woolf describes a journey down these streets with great detail. A particular scene that stuck with me was that of the dwarf. Here was this woman who had an obvious disability and the shame showed on her face. It was apparent she needed the two "benevolent giants" that accompanied her for security and help but at the same time they made her disability that much more notable. "She needed their kindness, yet she resented it." On the streets of London, the dwarf woman probably felt self conscious. "She wore the peevish yet apologetic expression usual on the faces of the deformed." However, when trying on shoes in the shop, everything changes. All the women stared at her not for her disability but for the beauty of her feet. She loved this type of spotlight. Back on the street, the dwarf went back to her usual apologetic expression. For Woolf, the dwarf didn't stand out as much anymore, because she noticed everyone else's deformities as well. The point here is that no matter how apparent one's imperfections are, everyone has them and that they should be appreciated, not ridiculed. This is a very minute detail in the overall scheme of the essay as Woolf explores the perspective one can gain by paying attention to the journey while working towards a goal.

Journal Entry #1

1. What is the Essay about?
Literal: going into the city to buy a pencil .... exploration, travelling throughout the city
* There are contrasts between light and dark (or references to) (ex. "the hour should be evening and the season winder, for in winter the champagne brightness of the air and the sociability of the streets are greatful." and (2nd page) "How beautiful a London street is then, with its islands of light, and its long groves of darkness, and on one side of it perhaps some tree-spinkled, grassgrown space where night is folding herself to sleep naturally,")
* There seems to be a variety of small themes, which consist of:
-Sleep
- “The Eye” (what the eye sees/ seeing past the literal)
- "Army's"
- Winter
-Appreciation of life/ seeing the beauty
-Thought/ Thinking
- The over all need for protection
("smiling at the shop girls, they seemed to be disclaiming any lot ir deformity and assuring her of their protection.”) Then the concept of who are they protecting themselves from? Maybe the “army”?

LONDON

This essay is all about a person setting out to buy a pencil. This idea of a pencil is not concrete but just a way to get away from her stressful life for a while with a pointless goal. Being taken in by the descriptions of ordinary people, she realizes the beauty of average city life and the abnormality of it. The idea of the perfections in imperfect people such as the midget shows this idea of the beauty of life to the greatest extent. This story reminds me a lot of the moth as it describes these things in life that seem completely normal until you look at them. The idea of venturing from expected path gives forth to a more powerful goal of adventure. With the idea of a pencil as a goal it seems surreal to me. The fact that a pencil, being so small and insignificant, can lead to a much greater good in expresing the deepest of thoughts. The insignificance of the pencil also mirrors society and shows all of the tiny things in society can matter the most in life. The building of the plot greatly leads up to the character being able to buy a pencil yet she decides not to buy a pencil in the end. The ending is teriffic and i think that it is a great way of summerizing this idea of a prolonged journey.

- Dan

(4) Street Haunting: A London Adventure

After reading Street Haunting: A London Adventure by Virginia Wolf, I was immediately reminded of a book I read several years ago entitled Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. This book describes the mind and its ability to make inferences without thinking and relying solely upon instinct. Similar to Virginia's essay, I felt that there was an emphasis placed on the ability to see things without fully appreciating their beauty and significance. We don't realize how we make inferences about individuals without fully comprehending their past.
"For the eye has this strange property; it rests only on beauty."
This quote was not only thought provoking but I found it as somewhat of an admonition. It's true, no matter how shallow it may sound, that the eye rests on beauty. The essay focused on people’s instinctive nature to place emphasis on physical characteristics as opposed to what truly defines a person- their inner beauty… something that cannot be seen by the naked eye. We tend to imagine other individuals' lives as peaceful and complacent, when in actuality, many are far from it. As Virginia passed several individuals, she made assumptions as to how their lives were panning out despite the fact that she was completely unaware as to how these people felt. The individual who piqued my interest was the midget; the woman whose face lit up when she was trying on shoes, but her happy disposition evaporated as she stepped outside. Virginia assumed that this woman was displeased with what she had to face outside, but she had no way of knowing this to be true. We ultimately are forced to make assumptions, and in most cases, this is done unintentionally. As Virginia mentioned later on in her essay, "One is forced to glimpse and nod and move on after a moment of talk, a flash of understanding, as, in the street outside."

"Street Haunting: A London Adventure" Response

Woolf's essay starts with the simple task of possessing a lead pencil and eventually turns into a journey to acquire this object. Like in a play, she perfectly sets up the stage with acute detail, providing the reader with an exact image in mind: "The hour should be the evening and the season winter." She also sets up a sharp contrast between winter and summer. By doing this, she communicates to the reader her ideas about life and the way people are composed on an attainable level. Woolf's imagery and language also help display a journey. At first, the essay reminded me of a word association. The ideas that Woolf brought up were consecutive and related in some way, but in many cases they still seemed random and even fleeting. When I finished the essay, however, I realized that these thoughts weren't actually random, that in they end they formed a flowing, cohesive piece. Each scenario Woolf describes is inextricably related and significant to the journey of attaining this lead pencil. I think both the reader and the essayist do ultimately get a sense that this is a journey. It isn't a heroic journey, but with imagery and uses of hyperbole, Woolf manages to compile these moments into a journey that isn't defined by the narrator's ultimate goal but by the experiences she has along the way.

Journal Entry 2

This essay is in form true to its content. Virginia Woolf seems to ramble in her writing even as she writes about ambling through the streets of London, seeking adventure above any other petty goal. That's really what this essay is about. It's about the idea that you can journey just for the sake of journeying, because you never know what you might find and so you could be rewarded far more than if you had a fixed goal from the start. Woolf uses the idea of buying a pencil, such a menial task, to represent starting a journey with a set goal in mind. It never really amounts to much, she seems to comment, for if you know your goal at the start, the amount of journeying you undergo is necessarily limited. I very much agree with Woolf's sentiment, and greatly admire the randomness of some of her observations in the essay. In some ways, it's harder to write without a set topic in mind, but maybe it's more rewarding. Thus I think it is with a bit of irony when Woolf conclues her essay by saying, "the only spoil we have retrieved from all the treasures of the city, a lead pencil."

An Intellectual Foray

2. Woolf presents a different sort of journey in buying a pencil, and one that occurs mentally rather than physically or spiritually. Just as the mind constantly strays along tangental paths, the author moves from thought to thought during a broader, overarching shopping trip ("But what was it? Ah, we remember, it was a pencil." [2]). In fact, the narrator's true adventure occurs in thinking about the relation between intellectual and real existence. He or she moves from materialism and impressionability by beauty ("the eye is sportive and generous; it creates; it adorns; it enhances." [5]) to considering that "nothing of this [imaginative] sort matters… so that we sport with the moment… lightly," then back to escaping reality by books, which have "a seat in the warm corner of the mind's inglenook," until finally deciding he or she is happy with familiar and personal ideas ("it is comforting to feel the old possessions, the old prejuidices… and the self" [9]). (5,6) Woolf's short story does not attempt to convey some tangible experience but, rather, the meandering, inner workings of a mind that gradually approach an abstract conviction about "the insecurity of life." (8) The narrator stuggles against the impediment that is "duty" until he or she finally accepts it is impossible to "put off buying the pencil" (i.e. disregard duty), because that dreamy, past, and ideal situation is all but unattainable in reality, and "we [should] be not again as we were." (8) Or, in other words, the narrator claims that we cannot re-choose something that has already been decided, nor ignore this decided duty of buying a pencil, as it is now the chasis for our entire, present excursion. This extraordinary mental realization reveals to her that "the future is even now invading our peace. It is only when we look at the past and take from it the element of uncertainty that we can enjoy perfect peace," an insightful conclusion to the narrator's long series of thoughts, which wander from one rumination to the next and blossom outward in much the same manner as a progressive protagonist's character would develop (e.g. Siddhartha, from the eponymous novel). (8) Street Haunting: A London Adventure is a journey, to be sure, however atypical an example it may be.

—Joseph Conrad

P.S. On another note, it is perfectly possible that the true journey here occurs in this story's organic development toward an irrelevant end, specific thoughts, memories, and experiences along the way notwithstanding. Put another way, the The reader is forced to appreciate the process, rather than final aim, of the narrator's trip into town.

John Krakauer

Hi, I am John Krakauer...
I was born in Brookline, Mass. was the Third of 5 children, and was raised in Corvallis, Oregon.
I am a mountaineer. That means I like climbing mountains, and various other assorted activities like sitting on busses and starving to death, or ditching my car and money....oh wait, actually thats from the book that I wrote: Into the Wild. I also wrote a book called into thin air. I wrote a monthly column on fitness in Playboy magazine.
thats about all for now!
love,
~Johnny

About me: Jan Burres

My name is Jan Burres and I'm writing you from Slab City, California. I was an acquaintance of Chris McCandless'... actually... i considered myself one of his closest friends. He was a wonderful individual who would discuss numerous topics with me, and he seemed to confide in me. In retrospect, I wish i encouraged Chris (even more) to contact his family. I knew that this was a sensitive subject with him, thus, i refrained from bringing up this topic. Bob and I are still going strong, but we think of Chris on a daily basis. He served as an inspiration to the both of us. We now have a child on the way, and we plan on naming him Chris Burres.
I also feel that the film, Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn did not accurately portray the close relationship Chris and I shared. Catherine Keener is a wonderful actress, but i feel that it's not possible to convey the loyalty Chris and I felt towards one another.
If any of you plan on passing through Slab City and have stories about Chris, please feel free to stop by and pay Bob and I a visit.

the Voolf-ster

I am Virginia Woolf. I am English. An avid feminist and writer, I founded the Bloomsbury Group where I came to know my husband Leonard Woolf. My real name is actually Adeline Virginia Stephen. I've written a multitude of books with titles including; Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and a Room of One's Own. My influences were Marcel Proust, George Eliot, and Leo Tolstoy. Although I was married, I swing both ways. I am most noted as being a turn of the century writer, who suffered from depression. Later I committed suicide by drowning in the River Ouse. I enjoy swimming with my friends and eating mince pies.

Howdy Yalll

I am Ron Franz. Ron is short for ronald!!!!!!!! I met chris along a his journey and he changed me, he got me back on me feet. After loosing my family chris really touched me and showed me my life wasnt over, and still isnt. I AM SOOOO happy to be living in a van traveling around! I love working with leather adn i LOVE chris. I wanted to adopt him but he DIED! i Miss HIM


Xoxoxoxo R

Westerberg Bio

Hi, my name is Wayne. I am from South Dakota and I work in a grain elevator. I am a very reasonable man who is quite lonley. I miss my good friend Chris. He was the closet friend I've had in quite sometime. I am a quite man and I enjoy harvesting wheat. I also enjoy watching sunsets along the great plains of South Dakota.

Vasudeva-About me

I am a ferryman. I spend my days travelling on the river. Everything I know and everything I am, comes from the river. I devote my life to ferrying people, wanderers, anyone-across the river and in some cases to enlightenment. I help those who wish to reach enlightenment attain their goal by telling them to follow the river. A key figure in Siddhartha's journey to enlightenment, I helped him not by preaching to him my philosophy, but instead I showed him the river and its wisdom. When I realized that Siddhartha attained enlightenment, I left him. I successfully helped him in his goal so I move on to help others as well.

Autobiography

I am an author whose writing derives predominantly from personal experience, and so am, in many respects, my characters. In youth I coped with my father's political exile within the Russian empire, and my mother's poor health, until age eleven, by which point both had passed away. My uncle took me in, though he quite leniently permitted me to gain sea-legs and travel abroad. Perhaps I could be described as an adventurer (goodness knows I've traveled enough—Venezuela to Congo to British India—to qualify), but primarily I am an observer. I've seen my share of human nature aboard boat and upon foreign soil, and, however unfortunate, it is not so pretty a picture. I suppose that seeking out humanity brings out the same in myself, and inward insights have a tendency to taint my literature. Which is not necessarily bad, in the presence of decent, moral judgment; but I fear a rather bleak and pessimistic streak must cross my works: seeing more of the world makes me only doubt it all the more. Yet I am at ease now in Britain, content to write myself into fiction and unafraid of presenting what subjective view of the world I have accrued in my sixty-seven years within it—and eighty-two more without.

—Joseph Conrad

P.S. You may be familiar with my story, "Heart of Darkness?" Please feel free to constructively critique it, and I will gladly entertain your suggestions.

Little Sid

My father seems like a great man however i ran away to be free and followed my dreams. My father whom i have only known for mere days somehow expects me to live with him and a strange man who smells like dirt. My mother treated me so well and took me shopping to buy nice clothes but my father finds rags draped over trees and makes me wear them as clothes. We barely eat and when we do it is small bowls of bland rice without any seasoning or salt. I could not stand the life which my father provided so at age 11 i ran into town to get a bite to eat and just fell in love with the town. If any of you have a nice house or barn which i could stay in that would be great since i have absolutely no money left.

Sincerely,

Young Siddy

I'm Zorba the Greek

but my real name is Alexis Zorbas. I'm Greek, like in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." I'm a working man who likes to tell long-winded stories about all I've done. My advanced age has not diminished my love for life and I make the most of every day. I have a flare for the dramatic.

Marlow

I am a riverboat captain and I grew up in England. I traveled to the Congo in search of adventure. I learned of a man named Kurtz who was described to me as a universal genious. As I learned more of him I became gradualy more interested in the man. I had to meet him. I did and it was okay but not great and now I'm home again.

Marlow

About Me: Kamala

Wat up?

My name is Kamala, and I was Siddhartha's lover. We were in love, but then he left me to find enlightenment, and raise our son on my own. (He was unaware that I was pregnant--he's not a deadbeat!) I died when I was bit by a poisonus snake, on my way to cross the river. I left my son in the care of his loving father, and I hope they're both living happily.

Govinda

I am Govinda, Siddhartha's childhood friend. I followed Siddhartha's path to enlightenment until we parted and I followed the Buddha. I love to meditate in nature. My time with the Buddha was filled with learning and peace. However I never found enlightenment. I am still searching for Nirvana.

(The Narrator)

I preferred to remain anonymous in my time within The Heart of Darkness. I was one of five characters on the boat listening to Marlow while he retold his lengthy tale. My shipmates were the Director of Companies, the Manager, the Lawyer, and Marlow himself. My exact purpose is undefined, besides my short commentary, what do I represent? In my initial observations I personify the river Thames, and discuss how it has conveyed men to both greatness and death. I may appear as though I am passively absorbing Marlow's experience, however, I am also making small judgments along the way...
Although the reader has no idea who I am beyond the world of the ship, he or she knows me and the way I think best. After all, readers are hearing the story through my ears, aren't they?

as always,
the narrator

About Me: Chris McCandless

Hey guys.

My name is Chris McCandless and pretty much I've wanted to get away from civilization for awhile.
I went on a long journey around the country living off the land.
I met some awesome people along the way, but my goal was to get to Alaska.
It was hard to find rides to get there, but finally I did.
I found a bus to stay in for a while but eventually I wanted to leave.
I crossed a shallow river to get to this bus, but when I tried to cross it to leave it was wider, a lot more rapid and too deep for me to get across.
I eventually died in the bus, but I led a good life.

-Chris

the Intended

Grettings folks.. I am the Intended. I am the woman that Kurtz left behind before he journyed into the "Heart of Darkness." I am white skinned and I continue to mourn Kurtz's death even though it is over many years ago that he passed. When Kurtz was away on his journey, I sat at home and knit for months and months awaiting his return. I never got to reconnect with the man I loved considering that he died on his extravagent journey. I hold onto the little memories that I have of Kurtz considering that there were many years I was sepererated from him. I am looking for a new man to love, even though I am sure that they will not be the same as Kurtz. If anyone is interested please contact me! xoxo, the Intended

Intro

Greetings,
My name is Siddhartha. I grew up in a rather large city, born into a family of Brahmin's. I was sheltered through wealth and class, elevated from all of the others. However, something was missing. I felt that I didn't deserve the rank and respect that I was given. I hadn't done anything that deserved respect. But, all of this made me feel empty, lost and alone. My life was so sheltered, protected. How could I possibly be given so much respect if I am relying on everyone else. I needed something to make myself feel whole. I needed something new. I left my town in order to find my inner "om". My "om" is what I consider to be my center, my meaning.
I finally had learned to depend on nothing, to be capable of relying on myself. While my progress was significant, I needed something else. I needed to be with my people, the "child people". I needed to experience the subtleties of the common folk.
The first thing I saw was remarkable. A vision of beauty. She was the farthest thing from common. She was followed by many men, wrapped in garments fit for a Goddess. She was poised, proper and perfect. My emotions immediately latched on to her glory, they longed to be with her.
Once she had settled, I approached her. I asked her what I had to do to win her over. I had to do a variety of things. The most significant was that I had to become wealthy, again. I had nobody to support me, now that I had left my hometown. I worked for a wealthy merchant, and gained the wealth I needed to love my queen.
As time passed I grew maddened by the simplistic lifestyles of the common-folk. I forced myself to leave the town and continue to my original path.