To the Lighthouse – Symbolism

Symbolism:
“It is a figure of speech that is used to create a certain mood in literature.”

It is the use of an object, person, situation or word to repreent something else, like an
idea. Some common types of symbolism are: Metaphor, Allegory.

Introduction:
To the Lighthouse is one of the most famous and representative novels written by
Virginia Woolf and published in 1927. It is also the most biographical novel of Virginia Woolf
who was the most important modernist writers of 20 th century. The novel is the whole
reflection about life and the main character of the novel, Mrs.Ramsay, represents Virginia
Woolf’s mother. The novel tells the story of Ramsays, their children and their friends and all
occurs in their summer house. One of the most important features of the novel, apart from the
use of consciousness, is symbolism and imagery used by Virginia Woolf. We are going to
analyse Virginia Woolf’s use of symbolism in To the Lighthouse to develop the theme of the
passage of time.

As is declared by Julia Briggs in Reading Virginia Woolf, the passage of time is central to
To the Lighthouse and Woolf deals with this making it the central feature of the novel. The
author manages to do this through the use of five major symbols.

Major Symbols
The Lighthouse:
The whole novel is influenced from beginning to the end by most important symbol,
which is responsible of the title of the novel, the lighthouse. We can see that the novel starts
and ends with the same topic, an expedition to the lighthouse, which is not accomplished until
the end of the novel. The lighthouse is the most important and complex symbol in the novel, it
has numerous meanings. For Mrs. Ramsay the lighthouse represents a source of stability and
contentment, she insists on going to the lighthouse to please her son James and she is
constantly thinking about the light that lighthouse sends out. For Lily Briscoe the lighthouse
represents a solution to her painting, at the end of the novel she sees Mr. Ramsay’s boat
approaches to the lighthouse and only when they had reached she completes her painting. For
James the lighthouse is a destination. For Mr. Ramsay the lighthouse is a symbol of his authority
in the family. In the second section of the novel “Time Passes”, the lighthouse remembers that
time is passing although people are not in the house.
 The general meaning of the lighthouse is the time wasted, all characters have some
desires to achieve while the time is passing. Lily has not campleted her painting, Mrs. Ramsay
has not said “I love you”, James has not been in the lighthouse. The tower reminds characters
all the time that they have specific period of time in life to achieve all goals that they want. At
the end of the novel when James reaches to the lighthouse, he realizes that the image he sees
is not the image he wanted to see it. This represents the difference between observing a desire
you have from a distance or imagine it, and getting of that desire. Some people realize that the
goal was not the correct one. As a conclusion, the lighthouse represents the definition of life,
the process of moving towards what one desires. The lighthouse is always present in To the
Lighthouse to remind the characters that they have to use their time for getting theor goals
before this time is completed.

The Waves:
A second important symbol in the novel is the waves. The waves are the representation
of life itself, they are always present, they are not the same, they go and come back and they
are always remembering characters that life is going on. They are represented as “being eating
a portion of land”, this represents how time slowly destroy human beings. Mrs. Ramsay is afraid
of that, she expresses that saying that she doesn’t want James to grow up. The waves are
always present interrupting the characters’ thoughts and Mrs. Ramsay is also afraid of the
passage of time. The waves, combined with the tides are also a kind of warning. When Mrs.
Ramsay feels safe and secure, the waves sound soothing, but when she feels disoriented, the
waves sound furiously. Moreover, in the second section of the novel, during the Word War I,
the ocean becomes brutal. In the first section of the novel, the waves seem to represent the
prediction of terrible future acts.

The Summer House:

The third symbol is the summer house, this place is always present in the novel. In the
second section “Time Passes” the house acquires a important meaning, characters and actions
are secondary. The whole chapter provides a description of the disintegration of the house and
the invasion of nature in it. In “Time Passes” even the loveliness and stillness that Woolf
personifies offer cold comfort. This shows the symbolism of the house to represent the cycle of
life. People must die and the time will make them to decay as the nature has made to the
house. The presence of nature in the house means that life continues, people die and new
people are born. In the house we see the presence of the first symbol, the lighthouse, which is
helping the abandonment of the house to remind that the time is wasting.

The Dinner:
. The fourth important symbol is the dinner. The first section of the novel “The Window”,
ends with a dinner in which all the characters are present. This dinner is a climax point, after
this dinner nothing is the same, is the last time when all characters are together. It is a mark in
time of the novel, a turning point which marks a before and an after, a past and a future. After
the dinner the time will rush and everything will change. Mrs. Ramsay is very worried about the
dinner because she wants to get together the whole family and friends. At the moment when
Mrs. Ramsay sits on the table she thinks about the meaning of life, her own ctions in her life,
she question herself if she is doing correct with her own life. This dinner makes her consider her
purpose in the life, the time is running and she does not know if she is wrong with her own life.
The dinner also serves as a combination of characters in which they make sense although they
are very different. The represents how time changes things and life.

The Window:
The fifth symbol is the window, this element is the protagonist of the title chapter and
also is very present in this chapter, in the last chapter it is also important. From the beginning of
the first chapter, the majority of the novel occurs in the window, the characters are sitting or
standing next to window seeing the passing o the day. Mr. Ramsay sits there to read, Lily is
constantly seeing through it. The window represents an important element in the forst chapter,
Virginia represents in this section a whole day from morning to night with the meaning of the
progress of life. The window represents the contrast between day and night and oresent and
past, and at the same time the speed in which life happens. The characters see through the
window how the days pass and their lives are developing.

Minor Symbols:
Lily’s Painting:
Lily’s painting represents a struggle against gender convention, represented by
Charles Tansley’s statement that women can’t paint or write. The painting also represents
dedication to a feminine artistic vision, expressed through Lily’s anxiety over showing it to
William Bankes. In the end, she decides that her vision depends on balance and synthesis: how
to bring together disparate things in harmony. In this respect, her project mirrors Woolf’s
writing, which synthesizes the perceptions of her many characters to come to a balanced and
truthful portrait of the world.

The Boar’s Skull:

The presence of skull acts as as a disturbing reminder that death is always at hand,
even (or perhaps especially) during life’s most blissful moments. It symbolizes transient nature
of art and life. Mrs. Ramsay’s covering it with her shawl represents her desire to preserve life. It
symbolically presents Mrs. Ramsy’s understanding nature and enduring power to suffer for
others.

The Storms, Rock, Reefs and Shallow Water:

Storms consist of both wind(air) and rain(water). And air is the element representing
the mind and water is the element representing the emotions, storms symbolize agitated
thoughts and emotions. The rocks, reefs and the shallow water symbolize the final dangers and
miseries which seem to accompany the end of any turbulent voyage.

Rose’s Arrangement of the Grapes and Pears:

Rose arranges a fruit basket for her mother’s dinner party that serves to draw the
partygoers out of their private suffering and unite them. The basket testifies both to th “frozen”
quality of beauty that Lily describes and to beauty’s soothing quality. The absence of fruit
basket in the 3rd part, signifies the transitory nature of beauty, art and truth.

Conclusion:
All these symbols that emphasize the passage of time in the novel, show how the
characters have a fear of death. This anxiety is particularly represented in Mrs. Ramsay who
expresses this when she thinks in her children growing older, at the same time she accepts the
fact that she will die one day. In conclusion, the meaning of the symbols is the course of life and
the proximity of death with which everyone has to face, knowing that one day they will die.