The last couple days of class have been focused on Septimus and his life story, and many enthralling discussions have been prevalent. Whenever Septimus Smith is a topic of discussion, I fill entire pages up taking notes during class time and still don't manage to get every idea I'm having/everything I hear down. The ambiguity of the character and things hinted at in the book are what leave so much potential for different opinions and outputs, and lead to never-ending discussions.
What goes on inside Septimus' head, and the way Virginia Woolf manages to believably portray those thoughts, is fascinating to me. Septimus' thought-process and thoughts and actions are just radical enough to seem odd for the "average" person (which we now know he is not), yet still perfectly believable of a human mind when demented or gifted (depending on what point of view you take). Before the war, Septimus was an aspiring poet, self-educated, open-spirited, and determined young man. He seems to have maintained these qualities for at least part of the war, until the end when his friend Evans is killed. I think that was the catalyst along with Septimus' denial of his closest friend's death, that ultimately led to his pronounced "madness."
While I greatly sympathize with Lucrezia and all the troubles she has been going through with a husband who seems incapable of returning affection or maintaing a typical conversation, I also feel bad for Septimus who is estranged from the rest of the world and trapped inside a brain that shows him things others can't see -- and if he drifts away into his thoughts or comments on them, others (primarily Lucrezia) are constantly trying to snap him out of it, or are perplexed by the oddities that come out of his mouth and seek help for him.
When we are given full insight from Septimus' point of view, we see that he is not insane, and that he is quite capable of making judgements and rationalizing. At one point when Septimus is acting more "like his old self," we see him pondering over "why seek truths and deliver messages (139)" when everyone else is doing simple, normal things. We see that he is aware that he has odd thoughts though he can't really control him, and the fact that he is helplessly aware that something is different about him makes him even more sympathetic.
I was really upset when Septimus jumped out the window, especially because "He did not want to die (146)" and he only jumped out because the stupid doctor was imposing himself on Septimus and Lucrezia's lives. However if Septimus had felt that he still had something powerful enough to live for (not much earlier he was debating over the point of delivering important messages, so that sense of urgency seemed to have diminished) he probably wouldn't have been so desperate to rid himself of the doctor, by whatever means possible. For this reason, I feel that he didn't really have much left to live for, besides the hot sun (since he dislikes humans and their meddling). Right after his incident, we switch to Lucrezia's mind who's thoughts take on ideas and patterns very similar to those of Septimus. Though I don't think she realizes it, her husband's death led Lucrezia to a similar insanity/state of mind that her husband had: imagining running through cornfields, hearing whispers, and envisioning the sea. She keeps repeating "He is dead" and wondering if they will bring his body to her, but she feels no pain, no emotion, and this is exactly what happened to Septimus when Evans died.
I feel a little flustered with how Woolf killed off my favorite character, but I suppose it makes sense for his death to not be too dramatic, especially since it allows for us to see into Lucrezia's mind who wasn't expecting anything, making the shock more dramatic. I wonder how the rest of the book will be without Septimus, perhaps a little dull?
What goes on inside Septimus' head, and the way Virginia Woolf manages to believably portray those thoughts, is fascinating to me. Septimus' thought-process and thoughts and actions are just radical enough to seem odd for the "average" person (which we now know he is not), yet still perfectly believable of a human mind when demented or gifted (depending on what point of view you take). Before the war, Septimus was an aspiring poet, self-educated, open-spirited, and determined young man. He seems to have maintained these qualities for at least part of the war, until the end when his friend Evans is killed. I think that was the catalyst along with Septimus' denial of his closest friend's death, that ultimately led to his pronounced "madness."
While I greatly sympathize with Lucrezia and all the troubles she has been going through with a husband who seems incapable of returning affection or maintaing a typical conversation, I also feel bad for Septimus who is estranged from the rest of the world and trapped inside a brain that shows him things others can't see -- and if he drifts away into his thoughts or comments on them, others (primarily Lucrezia) are constantly trying to snap him out of it, or are perplexed by the oddities that come out of his mouth and seek help for him.
When we are given full insight from Septimus' point of view, we see that he is not insane, and that he is quite capable of making judgements and rationalizing. At one point when Septimus is acting more "like his old self," we see him pondering over "why seek truths and deliver messages (139)" when everyone else is doing simple, normal things. We see that he is aware that he has odd thoughts though he can't really control him, and the fact that he is helplessly aware that something is different about him makes him even more sympathetic.
I was really upset when Septimus jumped out the window, especially because "He did not want to die (146)" and he only jumped out because the stupid doctor was imposing himself on Septimus and Lucrezia's lives. However if Septimus had felt that he still had something powerful enough to live for (not much earlier he was debating over the point of delivering important messages, so that sense of urgency seemed to have diminished) he probably wouldn't have been so desperate to rid himself of the doctor, by whatever means possible. For this reason, I feel that he didn't really have much left to live for, besides the hot sun (since he dislikes humans and their meddling). Right after his incident, we switch to Lucrezia's mind who's thoughts take on ideas and patterns very similar to those of Septimus. Though I don't think she realizes it, her husband's death led Lucrezia to a similar insanity/state of mind that her husband had: imagining running through cornfields, hearing whispers, and envisioning the sea. She keeps repeating "He is dead" and wondering if they will bring his body to her, but she feels no pain, no emotion, and this is exactly what happened to Septimus when Evans died.
I feel a little flustered with how Woolf killed off my favorite character, but I suppose it makes sense for his death to not be too dramatic, especially since it allows for us to see into Lucrezia's mind who wasn't expecting anything, making the shock more dramatic. I wonder how the rest of the book will be without Septimus, perhaps a little dull?
Wow, I love how you brought up the idea that Lucrezia's mind might become like Septimus's was. I never thought of it that way. It's even hinted at before Septimus's death, when Lucrezia says that she won't let any of the doctors take Septimus away and decides that she will run away with him. This is a huge change from the beginning of the novel, where she is nostalgic for her home and family in Italy.
ReplyDeleteWhat's especially interesting is that Lucrezia seems to have loved him, maybe the same way Septimus might have loved Evans. While Lucrezia didn't go through the war, just seeing her husband kill himself could cause shell shock.
I really hope that we get to see more of Lucrezia and Dr. Holmes and hear a bit more of the aftermath of Septimus's death. In another sense, I guess it would be good if that arc of the story ended right here, so that the readers have the opportunity to imagine what will happen.
Now that we've read the book and almost finished the hours, I feel like we have more closure on the book as a whole. I totally agree with what you said about letting the readers imagine what will happen, but I'm a little upset that NOTHING more was said of Lucrezia. The only time we are even reminded of Lucrezia and Septimus and the tragedy is when Clarissa overhears "death" being spoken of at her party, and she contemplates life. While it refers back to the tragedy, it was almost cruel how there was no more mention of that aspect of the book, that took up a lot of the plot.
DeleteI agree that Rezia is one of the more compelling "minor character" storylines in the novel, but it's clear that Woolf was primarily interested in Septimus and his subtle effect on Clarissa's day (which is, after all, the novel's main subject). But Divya's observation that Rezia would be traumatized by witnessing the sudden, violent death of her husband (in a way that could closely echo Septimus's own trauma) is insightful, and in a way, _The Hours_ pursues this idea by having its "Septimus" figure--Richard the poet--have his mother's abandonment of him (which he figures as a suicide in his novel, as they amount to nearly the same thing) serve as the formative trauma in his life. He's both a Rezia and a Septimus, in this sense.
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