- InterChange Conference on Woolf's The Waves
(pp.182-297)
- June 27, 2000
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- As Laura told us yesterday, Woolf wrote to Ethel Smyth that
*The Waves* would be a novel that was &1xbet sports betting ;completely opposed
to the tradition of fiction,&1xbet sports betting ; and that she was &1xbet sports betting ;casting
about all the time for some rope to throw to the reader&1xbet sports betting ;
(Letter #2224, 28 Aug 1930). Bounced as we are along the waves
of her narrative, we do seem to get a few &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ;:
Percival; names for the voices/character(s); movement through
time (a day in the italicized &1xbet sports betting ;preludes&1xbet sports betting ; or &1xbet sports betting ;interludes&1xbet sports betting ;
and a lifetime for the voices); recurring images/actions.
- Woolf's comment suggests that readers may need &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ;
to read: Does her novel suggest we need &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ; to
live, as well? How important are &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ; to the characters
of the narrative? What helps them survive, succeed, live their
lives? Are their &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ; material objects, other people...or
perhaps not necessary at all?
- 1xbet sports betting :
- I think that the individual episodes in which each character
is faced with the question of finding meaning in their 1xbet sports betting acts
as a rope. But also, the moments of friendship (or rather, companionship)
seem important to balance their lives. Obviously there is a value
that they find in each other and that value acts as a rope to
tie their memories together in a meaningful way.
- John Brooks:
- I don't think you always need &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ; to read,
but in a book like this, where the prose seems to be detatched
from what is actually happening, you've got to have them. That
makes no sense, but what I mean is that it is as if this book
was not written to be &1xbet sports betting ;read,&1xbet sports betting ; as one would read Jane
Austen or something, where everything fits together, but it was
more likely written to be experienced. Whew. Does that make any
sense?
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- 1xbet sports betting do the moments of friendship allow? Can you be more
specific, Elizabeth?
- Amy Ketner:
- Everyone in life needs something familiar that they are able
to return to in times of need and doubt. 1xbet sports betting are just that--they
tie people and events and memories together and it is from these
1xbet sports betting that the web of human life is woven. WIthout 1xbet sports betting to tie
a human to life, human existance can be a scary thing; as Rhoda
experiences every day. Rhoda emds up killing herself becuase
she dosent trust any of the 1xbet sports betting that are before her eyes to
grasp.
- Nora Parrish:
- 1xbet sports betting seem to be connections of a sort. Woolf wants her readers
to be able to connect the parts of the story. I think she is
suggesting that people need their connections to parts of their
own stories, be they connections to other people, places, material
things, ideas, etc.
- Susan's rope is her farm and her family; they are her responsibility
and are therefore connected to one another. I get the feeling,
though 1xbet sports betting is never stated outright, that Susan needs natural
things to help her connect; she needs the slow but constant progress
of the seasons and the different tasks required on the farm by
each season and the progress of life (watching over her children
as they grow up) to define herself.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- The most significant moment of friendship that comes to mind
is the episode as children where Jinny kisses Louis and Bernard
chases after Susan because she is upset. This gets referred to
over and over and over. 1xbet sports betting is a self-forming moment, like so
many that occur during childhood, but the importance of 1xbet sports betting is
in the interactions between Jinny, Louis, Susan, and Bernard.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Susan and Rhoda have come up so far as particular examples
of characters needing or refusing &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ;: What about
the other charatcers? Do they have particular &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ;
they hang on to or need, distinct from the others?
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Good point about Rhoda, Amy: that she doesn't trust any of
the 1xbet sports betting given by others. I don't think Louis does either, yes?
- Nora Parrish:
- I agree with you, Amy. Rhoda might have 1xbet sports betting floating around
her in her private sea but she cannot believe that they are lifelines,
and so she drowns herself (metaphorically speaking) in her unbelief.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- I think that Bernard would cease to exist without 1xbet sports betting stories
to tie everything together.
- Amy Ketner:
- Bernard uses words and stories as 1xbet sports betting rope that ties him
to all humanity
- John Brooks:
- Along the lines of what Elizabeth wrote, and to answer Prof.
Westman's second question, I think that we all have &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ;
in our lives, either physical &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ; like friends
or family members or non-physical &1xbet sports betting ;ropes&1xbet sports betting ; like a place
we can go to in our mind or something like that that brings us
out of the depths of despair. What's so interesting about this
book is that it works much more like life than you think a book
should: in real life, Percival would most likely not have died
as a result of his being heroic. But in literature, at least
until Woolf maybe, it would have been absolutely necessary to
have him die as a hero b/c that's what people want. But our ropes
in real life are often few and far between, and those that are
there are often tattered and unraveling even as we grasp on to
them.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- I think John's right about making Percival die in a &1xbet sports betting ;normal&1xbet sports betting ;
way. Perhaps dying heroically in a war is more the kind of death
that people understand, though. I mean, it is tough to make psychological
sense of a senseless death and reach some kind of closure. By
not allowing for &1xbet sports betting ;heroic&1xbet sports betting ; closure, Percival's death
means something totally different--something real.
- Nora Parrish:
- That's true, John. It seems like life never does what one
expects it to but rather goes its own way and leaves us to deal
with what it drops in our laps. Without our 1xbet sports betting , the things
that are dropped in our laps are crushing. With a rope of some
sort, at least we have a chance of not being crushed by life.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Yes, and even Bernard feels his words can be somewhat &1xbet sports betting ;tattered&1xbet sports betting ;
too -- hwat keeps him going, then? What keeps him creating stories,
even if they may not succeed?
- John Brooks:
- No, I don't think Louis trusts any of the 1xbet sports betting thrown to
him either. He always seems on the outside of things, as if he
is protecting some part of himself from being hurt by the rest
of them.
- Amy Ketner:
- Louis is much like Rhoda in that he not only dosen't trust
the 1xbet sports betting that others offer him but also dosent even trust himself
enough to speak about what he feels or go with his own instincts.
He has to look at others and copy what they are doing and saying
so that he dosent stand out or appear any different. Bernard
seems to have something that the others dont--some sort of strength---he
realizes that his words may fail him sometimes--but his words
are only one of the many 1xbet sports betting that he holds within his life
and when his words do not work he has his wife--he has his friends--and
as much as it may upset him that his words arent expressing life
in the way he wishes them to at the time--he is able to move
on until they once again do
- Nora Parrish:
- Bernard's stories are his 1xbet sports betting ; even if they are tattered,
they belong to him. He can trust his own creativity if nothing
else in life. (It seems that his wife is also a rope for him--an
attachment to someone else with whom he has things in common
[which aren't made apparent but seem to exist from Bernard's
way of speaking about his wife and the experience of marriage.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Do you all feel that Bernard kind of stands out formt he
others in his ability to negotiate those 1xbet sports betting , the flux of experience?
That words are being favored as a way to shape life?
- Amy Ketner:
- Yes, i feel he stands out. He uses what he possesses to make
his 1xbet sports betting pleasant--or at least liveable.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- Yes, I think that Bernard stands out. But it is because the
novel culminates in his experience. I think that the creative
outlet of words is embodied in him. So, ultimately it may not
mean that he--the person--negotiated the ropes the best, but
that imagination and the &1xbet sports betting ;kind&1xbet sports betting ; of life experience
he had is the most rewarding.
- Nora Parrish:
- This is probably a stretch, but since we are talking about
connections, it seems that Mrs. Wilcox's rope was Howards End
itself; Meg Schlegel's her culture, Tibby's his academics, etc.
I didn't really think of HE in terms of 1xbet sports betting before, although
connection is central to it. I think you could look at many of
the characters from the fiction we have studied and find their
1xbet sports betting as well.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Given that many critics have criticized this novel for being
to &1xbet sports betting ;airy&1xbet sports betting ; and unattached to the world: Do you thik
that material objects helpp or hinder characters' experiences?
Are they ropes that tie too much? Or necessary ties, even if
they bind?
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Nora, the question then becomes whether any of the characters
from _HE_ are too tightly caught to a certain rope? -- thinking
of the Wilcoxes, for example.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- We don't really get caught up in the material things in the
book, I think, other than to recognize the characters individual
desires and values. But the material elements are a hinderance,
in a way, because they destract your attention from the &1xbet sports betting ;spiritual&1xbet sports betting ;
level of perception.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- I'm going to choke on all these cliche phrases.... :)
- Nora Parrish:
- Yes. Bernard seems to be the one who held up the best--Rhoda
died a suicide, Susan faded off to death on her farm, Louis is
still full of anxieties and insecurities, Jinny becomes pitiful,
picking up one young man (gigolo?) after another to keep her
sense of physical desirability, etc. But Bernard has his stable
1xbet sports betting , his wife, children, grandkids I assume, his house, his
career--he has a place to return to. He seems to me to be the
only one who found such a place.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- Do the characters need material (as opposed to emotional)
things, even if 1xbet sports betting 're not emphasized to us? (Rhoda, or Jinny?
Or Susan?)
- 1xbet sports betting :
- And we should notice, I think, that Bernard's &1xbet sports betting ;place&1xbet sports betting ;
as Nora describes it is to a large degree more traditional than
where the others ended up. I mean he got what you are &1xbet sports betting ;supposed&1xbet sports betting ;
to seek in life.
- Amy Ketner:
- SInce the world we exist in puts a large focus on material
things, they, of course, play a role on the life of anyone--the
book dosen't connect to the material aspects of life-- 1xbet sports betting seems
that the reader gets a glimpse into the life of the charactors
but not the entire picture becuase while we are in their minds
while they jump from thought to thought there is a whole world
that they are existing in with things all around them that the
reader is not able to see or relate to the charactor.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- On material needs: Check out Rhoda's comment on p.159 about
needing to touch someting not to be blown through the corridors
of time.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- That passage would seem to suggest that material things are
necessary 1xbet sports betting to tie us firmly to this ground, in this life.
As opposed to getting carried away in the emotional or philosophical,
or for that matter, the relational.
- Amy Ketner:
- Rhoda, more than the others, needed something other than
humans--friends--people--to make the world liveable. She sought
out anything unchanging to help her feel strong herself--and
this of course could not be relationships--as they constantly
change--1xbet sports betting would have to be something like a brick or some stone.
- Nora Parrish:
- Yes, Mr. Wilcox is certainly obsessed with his rope (that
green stuff $$$); he doesn't see things like Charles' struggles
to support his growing family or the desperate nature of Bast's
life on the edge of the abyss. Tibby too, is so caught up in
the world of Oxford that he cannot see beyond 1xbet sports betting . Meg and Helen
are also quite tied up to their world of culture and refinement,
although Meg at least realizes that she is able to be in her
world because of her family's wealth.
- Anyway, I didn't mean to get so caught up in earlier writings.
Elizabeth A., I noticed that as I was writing. A lot of people
seem to think there's something wrong with that traditional sort
of life. I don't personally live 1xbet sports betting , though sometimes I wish
I did have that regularity and custom. But if the traditional
home and family life is what satisfies someone, then why reject
1xbet sports betting just because 1xbet sports betting is traditional? I mean, Bernard appears quite
contented with his life, or at least no more discontented that
anyone else when old age arrives with the realization that the
opportunities of youth have passed one by.
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- ****As a final posting, offer these three items:
- 1. one theme that you think Woolf explores in the novel,
2. an example of 1xbet sports betting , and 3. say whether you think 1xbet sports betting 's a theme
of To the Lighthouse, too.
- 1xbet sports betting :
- I think that connection between individuals through relationships
AND through simple moments of &1xbet sports betting ;getting it&1xbet sports betting ; is a theme
in this novel for sure. For instance, the way that all of the
friends feel about Percival's departure and the moments of the
dinner party where they seem to think the same thought--differently.
To the Lighthouse presented the same theme, I think, in a slightly
more direct light. THe ultimate question is the value that we
put on &1xbet sports betting ;connecting&1xbet sports betting ; and who we surround ourselves with
in life that could serve as our &1xbet sports betting ;ropes.&1xbet sports betting ;
- 1xbet sports betting :
- I feel like we have made great leaps on the road to discovering
and conquering the meaning of 1xbet sports betting .... THis is exhausting!
- Karin 1xbet sports betting :
- ..1xbet sports betting is, isn't 1xbet sports betting ?
- Amy Ketner:
- Human relationships and their role in life. Do they matter--do
they uplift or tear down--does 1xbet sports betting depend on the individual? An
example of a relationship that made a difference in the lives
of Jinny, Susan, Rhoda, Bernard, Louis, and Neville is Percival.
He came into the lives of the six friends and left footprints
that remain throughout the years. I do think this theme exists
in To The Lighthouse.
- Nora Parrish:
- I suppose I've been commenting around this for the last half
hour but I think connection is a theme of The Waves: for example,
the universal sense of loss after Percival's death. 1xbet sports betting had
all lost the connection he provided and the necessity of forming
some new connection was frightening. Connection is a fairly universal
theme anyway, certainly also in To the Lighthouse, since Mrs.
Ramsay's talent was connecting people, at least for the length
of a dinner party, and, by the end of TTL, Lily wanted to learn
how to connect the way Mrs. R. could.
- Nora Parrish:
- No kidding about the exhaustion--1xbet sports betting is deep thought here!!
:-)
- Return to ENGL 395