Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse Character Analysis

Have you ever binge watched a TV series? Many people usually do and even consider this a normal behavior in our society; however, the main character, Montag, from the novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury is the only one in his society to be detached from the world of media. The civilians are brainwashed from the nonsense that they are watching and listening to. Television helps people to not interact with one another and trying to stop conversations. The people in the society are also getting into harm's way, when they are watching tv. In his novel, Ray Bradbury puts the focus on technology ruining the lives of innocent civilians.

Albert Camus once stated, "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so free that your existence is an act of rebellion." If something is not how it ethically should be then it is acceptable to rebel within the limits of what is morally correct. In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, he presents a world where the government has restricted access to printed literature so they can gain increased control over their citizens. The main figure, Guy Montag, shows an incredible growth in his personality through his journey of enforcing and accepting the government restrictions to stop the flow of information to a realization that the sharing of knowledge leads to a stronger society.  Guy Montag's role comprises many qualities, including that he is a loyal and accepting government employee that works as a "fireman" whose job is to destroy all remaining books and to burn the personal property of those that he caught reading the outlawed books.  A depressing and lonely home life influences Montag's personality, including a drug-addicted and shallow wife, named Millie. While sadness and loss surround Montag, he is a strong individual that can overcome obstacles and the challenge of the government's policies. Montag struggles when he realizes the impact of his orders from his boss puts on others, and that he must take a stand for the betterment of the public. When the government is not doing their duties of protecting their citizens, either by limiting their knowledge, putting them in danger or destroying those who disagree with them these actions can prompt citizens to turn toward rebellion.

In the book Dawn by Elie Wiesel, a young man, Elisha, survived World War II. At the end

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel based on a character amed Montag and the life he lives. Throughout the novel his belief will be challenged and he will begin to see the world he and the other characters live in differently. Overtime the man who he was will not be the man he becomes. His beliefs, the characters who have influenced him, and the ways that Montag changes will all be discussed in this essay.

Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and various other short stories once said, "Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations," and his observation is a perfect analysis of the importance of characters in fiction. The actions of characters in stories are what guide the most beloved ones. When a story is beloved it is most often driven by love of the characters, but the real question is why do readers love and relate to fictional beings. The types of characters that are most loved in fiction have roots in reality, and traits that make them more relatable to the reader.

Hunger is a feeling all humans have, and it is one of the feelings and emotions that makes us human. In the book Dawn by Elie Wiesel, the main character Elisha is part of a Zionist terrorist organization. He is given the task from the leader of their organization to execute a captured British soldier, John Dawson. Elisha doesn't want to give him food before the group executes him, because subconsciously it will humanize the captured soldier. When a fellow soldier said they should give him food before they kill him, but Elisha responded, "He listens to his stomach and it tells him he is going to die and he isn't hungry." (Dawn, Wiesel.) This shows the colder side of Elisha and how he doesn't want to humanize Dawson so he is easier to kill. Elisha has experienced hunger himself when he was in the nazi concentration camps.

Throughout history the importance of women in society has been overlooked, and if not overlooked, then insufficiently attended to. It is only in the last century that societal convention has started to recognize the acts and achievements of women. The women in Robertson Davies’ novel Fifth Business have similarly essential interactions with Dunstan Ramsay, but as supporting characters are, to varying degrees, partially developed. First, Mary Dempster acts as an isolated friend to Ramsay and serves as catalyst for the novel’s main events, namely Ramsay’s departure to war and his study of hagiology. Thereafter another woman, Diana Marfleet, champions Dustan’s physical and mental rehabilitation and is responsible for his rebirth after World War

Throughout the sixty year span explored in this novel it can be demonstrated that relationships has given him the most insight into his life’s meaning, not isolation. One of Ramsay’s most intriguing relationships is with Mrs. Dempster, a women who Ramsay assists after becoming mentally incapable. Ironically, while Mrs. Dempster is the one receiving assistance, she is unwittingly providing much more.in return to Ramsay. His relationship with her has given him a purpose in a time that he is ridden with guilt. In addition, he had no purpose at the time for the reason that his older brother seemed to being taking over their father’s occupation as the owner of the town newspaper. He was responsible for taking care of her, and while it harmed his reputation, it was a period in his life he would not change, as he claims he was in love with her. Ramsay states, “the more the village pitied and dismissed her, the worse my obsession grew” (24). However, this strange infatuation with Mrs. Dempster is significant for other aspects of Ramsay’s personal journey. Most notably, his interest in sainthood is broadened

The narrator comes to the House to aid his dying friend, Roderick Usher. As he arrives at the House he comes upon an “aura of vacancy and decay… creating a pathologically depressive mood” (Cook). The state of the House is daunting to the narrator – he describes it with such features as “bleak walls”, “eye-like windows”, “rank sedges”, “decayed trees”, and “an utter depression of the soul”. These images foreshadow a less than pleasant future for the narrator and his dear friend Roderick. Poe continues to foreshadow the narrators turn of events with a description of the House’s “dark” and “comfortless” furniture. The House becomes a living hell for the narrator as he watches Roderick’s condition evolve and struggles to understand the mystery tying unfortunate events together. However, as the narrator gradually becomes more enveloped in Roderick and the House’s malady, he seems to develop a malady of his own. While the narrator’s illness is less prominent than that of Roderick and his sister Lady Madeline, the sicknesses are one in the same.

“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over” (Bradbury 67). This quote demonstrates the forming of the friendship between my swim team and I. I have known my swim team for so long, that it is hard to remember when I first met them, or when we became really good friends. We do so many things together and for each other, that I can't imagine my life without them.

“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings” -Henrich Hein. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Mildred, Montag’s wife, and Clarisse McClellan are two very opposing characters. Clarisse thinks and acts “outside of the box” Where as Mildred rather stays in the box; she goes with the flow of their society. Although Clarisse McClellan and Mildred are very different, they both are very significant in Montag’s life; they have positive and negative affects on him.

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights share similarities in many aspects, perhaps most plainly seen in the plots: just as Clarissa marries Richard rather than Peter Walsh in order to secure a comfortable life for herself, Catherine chooses Edgar Linton over Heathcliff in an attempt to wrest both herself and Heathcliff from the squalid lifestyle of Wuthering Heights. However, these two novels also overlap in thematic elements in that both are concerned with the opposing forces of civilization or order and chaos or madness. The recurring image of the house is an important symbol used to illustrate both authors’ order versus chaos

In Virginia Woolf’s “Night and Day”, we, as the reader, can examine various feminist themes throughout the novel. Even though, “Night and Day” is one of her more conventional novels, many of the issues fly in the face of traditional values and capitalizes on the female oppression that was present in that time era. Even though, this was one of her earlier works, I believe that her conventional structure was an intentional creation, as she was trying to make a point on literary tradition and feminism. In contrast to many of her later novels, like “To The Lighthouse”, which had much anti-structure and stream of consciousness, “Night and Day”, is full of carefully written

It is also assumed that the act of telling a story can provide insight into past, present and future events (Espinoza, 1997). By going through this process, individuals can find the importance of certain events and assign roles to people who are a part of their story. This act can allow a client to find new meaning and understanding to their reality (Espinoza, 1997). Not only is a

Mrs. Ramsay thrives in this role of wife and mother, and men support this role by loving and adoring her for it. In watching her fit the stocking to James' leg and at another time, read James a fairy tale, Mr. Bankes can not help but contemplate the wonders of Mrs. Ramsay. He sees her is the best of light, as childlike and beautiful from within. "If one thought of her simply as a woman", one who wished to be admired, they were mistaken. In his opinion, she was beyond all of that. Her self sacrificing nature brought her to a higher level, where although she was strikingly beautiful, she wanted only to be like everyone else, "insignificant", so as to serve those around her.(p. 30) The simple acts which she