Hours/Dalloway #2

"Every power poured its treasures on his head, and his hand lay there on the back of the sofa, as he had seen his hand lie when he was bathing, floating, on the top of the waves, while far away on shore he heard dogs barking and barking far away. Fear no more, says the heart in the body; fear no more" (139). 

Woolf uses the character of Septimus Warren Smith to express her own feelings. Woolf suffered from severe depression and actually committed suicide by drowning herself. This emotional connection Woolf had with water is seen through this passage as Septimus connects his current state with bathing. He then further relates bathing to ocean waves. The symbolism of the waves not only lies in their connection to Woolf but in the idea that one event leads to another - since a wave starts small and then grows larger -  which is a prominent theme in Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf uses the imagery of “dogs barking and barking far away” to suggest Septimus’ emotional distance from other people. Far away barking hints at the idea of isolation just as Septimus views things differently from other people and is therefore separated from the rest of society. The personification of the heart is used to suggest that the soul of a person is a separate being from the body. Putting the heart in control (the heart is the one commanding the body) emphasizes that the soul is the more important of the two. This idea that the soul is separate from the body is a big part of Septimus’ character. He is trapped in a deep depression so to free his mind, he commits suicide. He puts his soul before his body. 

Works Cited:

Tompson, Richard S. "Woolf, Virginia." Great Britain: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Modern World History Online. 27 Sept 2010< http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=

WE53&iPin=GB1369&SingleRecord=True>. 

Picture Credit:

Johnson, Erin. "The Buzz: Making Waves on ScienceBlogs." Web log post. ScienceBlogs. 26 May 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2010 <http://scienceblogs.com/seed/2009/05/the_buzz_making_waves_on_scien.php>.