Memory function in Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse
The mood of To the Lighthouse is one of nostalgia. The bulk of the novel (section I) takes place before World War I, before the death of Mrs. Ramsey, and before the end of childhood of the Ramsey children. The rest of the novel looks back on those moments of wholeness, innocence, and desire. The novel is heavily overlaid with a sense of memory. Each of the vivid moments of the first section has the feeling of memory in the sense that they seem to have acquired symbolic significance over the years so that they have formed vivid moments defining lives and relationships. Lilly Briscoe, the painter who stayed with the family at the summer home, is a character that focuses largely on her memory of the summer house and Mrs. Ramsey, especially when she returns years later to finish her painting. Lilly Briscoe illustrates the power of memory and symbolism in preserving someone who has passed away. The novel is written in three sections and each serves as a function of memory. The first part is where the memories are formed, the encoding of memory. In the second part a considerable amount of time passes and the memories are put away. The third part is the crucial stage of me
mory retrieval, when the memories are brought up in the minds of the people who return to the summer home. Part III, "The Lighthouse," resumes the story of the Ramseys, now without Mrs. Ramsey. In the first part of the novel, James Ramsey had asked to go to the lighthouse. His mother had said he could and his father had said he could not because the weather would be too rough to allow the boat to land. The novel ends with James achieving his desire and, along with his sister Cam, reconciling with his father. Part III is also a completion of the narration of Lily Briscoe painting a portrait of Mrs. Ramsey. In the absence of Mrs. Ramsey, she completes this portrait begun ten years ago. Virginia Woolf infuses this book with the concepts of time passing and its toll on the world around it. Besides the people lost within the family, there is the war taking the lives of many. Through the eyes of the people around Mrs. Ramsey we get to see how memory can battle the effects of time and preserve someone in our hearts and minds despite the years going by. The single line that Lily adds to the painting is placed between the figures of Mrs. Ramsey and the tree, which represent
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lily Ramsey, Ramsey Ramsey, Lilly Briscoe, World War, Virginia Woolf, James Ramsey, Lily Briscoe, Charles Tansley, , III Lighthouse, summer home, return summer home, vivid moments, lily remembers, lily struggles, ramsey tree, novel james, return summer, portrait ramsey, lilly briscoe,
Approximate Word count = 794
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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