Throughout the novel, we see frequent references to life and death. Thus, it would not be accurate to say the novel is only about one or the other; it sheds light on both life and death. Woolf presents these profound ideas through the thoughts of her characters in Mrs. Dalloway. From the very beginning of the novel, we are confronted with thoughts of death from the main character, Clarissa Dalloway. When walking in the streets, she plunges into deep thoughts about her death and what would happen after it, “Did it matter then, she asked herself... that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely? But somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived,...she being part... of the trees at home; of the house there, ugly, rambling, all to bits and pieces as it was; part of people she had never met; being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best...” (9).
Later on in the novel, readers are continually confronted by the characters' thoughts on life and death. Clarissa thinks about what the purpose of her parties are and what her whole meaning of her life is, “...But could any man understand what she meant either? about life?...But to go deeper, beneath what people said (and these judgments, how superficial, how fragmentary they are!) in her own mind now, what did it mean to her, this thing called life? Oh, it was very queer.” (122) Up until this point, Clarissa has been pondering her role in society and what it means to the overall value of her life. She has definitely lived her life with more regrets than she can count. She has succumbed to a life of hostessing over a life of passion and there is not one moment where she is not thinking about the choices she has made.
Another character who ponders life and death is Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran who suffers from insanity. Though he is insane, he is very conscious of the concepts of life and death and might even understand them better than others in his society. Clarissa and Septimus are seen as connected because of their similar views on life and death. He would tell his wife, Lucrezia, his thoughts on death, life, and the society in which they lived, “He would argue with her about killing themselves; and explain how wicked people were; how he could see them making up lies as they passed in the street. He knew all their thoughts, he said; he knew everything. He knew the meaning of the world, he said.” (66)
Later on in the novel, as predicted earlier on, Septimus actually commits suicide. When Holmes comes to his house, Septimus plunges into a frantic state. He is tired of living in the society that he views as “wicked” and does not want to be ordered around by the doctors anymore. Various methods of suicide quickly pass through his mind, but he ultimately chooses to throw himself out of the window, “...he considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread knife... the gas fire? But it was too late now... There only remained the window... He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun hot. Only human beings-- what did they want? Coming down the staircase opposite an old man stopped and stared at him. Holes was at the door. “I'll give it to you!” he cried, and flung himself vigorously, violently down on to Mrs. Filmer's area railings.” (149). Here, Septimus ultimately chooses death over his other option-- living another day in his “wicked” society. This is how Septimus and Clarissa's thoughts on death and life differ. Clarissa is so frightened by death, she would rather live in the society in which her real sense of identity is deadened and stunted. This is seen through Clarissa's reaction when Septimus' death is even mentioned at her extravagant party, “...'A young man had killed himself. He had been in the army.' Oh! Thought Clarissa, in the middle of my party, here's death...What business had the Bradshaws to talk of death at her party?” (183-184).
As Clarissa thinks about Septimus' death, she begins to understand and respect his decision to end his own life. She realizes that he was able to keep something she lost a bit more everyday of her life, “But why had he done it?...A thing there was that mattered; a thing, wreathed about with chatter, defaced, obscured in her own life, let drop every day in corruption, lies, chatter. This he had preserved. Death was defiance. Death was an attempt to communicate; people feeling the impossibility of reaching the centre which, mystically, evaded them; closeness drew apart; rapture faded, one was alone. There was an embrace in death...The young man had killed himself; but she did not pity him...She felt somehow very like him... She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away.” (184,186)
Septimus defied society when he committed suicide. He chose to rise above the shallow demands of society. He is able to do what Clarissa isn't, and as a result, she feels that his death is her disgrace. The theme of life and death is a strong one in the novel. The characters ultimately live their lives as a product of their beliefs on life and death. Most of the characters are eager to please society and lose their desires and identities as they conform to the norm. They constantly think about what their lives have become and how life would have been if they had only embraced their individuality. Septimus sets an example to embrace life for what it is, not for what everyone thinks it should be. He ultimately embraces life by ending it, “Fear no more.”
(991)
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