The Role of the Lighthouse in the Novel, “To The Lighthouse”

The Role of the Lighthouse in the Novel, “To The Lighthouse”

Abstract

Mr. Ramsay’s and other visitors go back to their summer cottage a decade after the Part I scenes in the book, “To the Lighthouse.” Mr. Ramsay eventually plans to take the lengthy-delayed journey with children Cam(illa) and James to the lighthouse. The trip almost did not take place, as the kids were not prepared, but finally, they set forth. In the book, Both James Ramsey and Lily Briscoe are consciously searching for something.  The essay critically analyzes the role of the house of light in the novel. The lighthouse serves as a strong indication of unattainability. This is also a sign of the supremacy of family and how the authority of going to the lighthouse had a great deal to do with family authority.

Main body

Generally, a lighthouse is a tall construction filled by a powerful light that is used as a signal or beacon to assist maritime mapping.” It’s something folks can look for when lost for direction.  It is a “high structure”-a large, stable, non-moving building.  What about that mighty light? It moves. It lights up when the darkness falls, and goes off when the sun comes up. Thus, a lighthouse functions both as a signifier of stabilization (as a beacon) as well as change (as it lights on and off with the rhythm of the day’s and night’s effect).

The lighthouse signifies the human desire, a power that flickers over the natural world’s oblivious ocean and directs the transit of humanity through it. Even though the lighthouse stands still season after season, day and night, it continues to remain interestingly unattainable. The book ends with James ‘disappointed urge to travel to the lighthouse, and Mrs. Ramsay gazes at the lighthouse as she refuses Mr. Ramsay, the declaration of love he so desperately craves at the end of the first Chapter. James eventually reaches the lighthouse in the third section of the novel after ten years of wishing to go there. He takes an up-close look and notices that the lighthouse appears the same way it does from across the sea. The nebulous vision he’d like from a distance continues to remain unattainable, although he can paddle easily up to the structure it is ostensibly connected to. The title of the book can be comprehended as a summary of one’s encounter: one leaps through life guided by the desire for the stuff he desires and yet rarely to achieves them.

Lily does not have to date since she’s got her job. She can also view the lighthouse. Although, she is drawing the scenario in front of her other than struggling to fit in a typical maternal or womanly role trying to get to the lighthouse. She utilizes her work to reflect the lighthouse’s nature, without necessarily needing to be part of what it depicts (Woolf, 46). Lily marries her work, and there is no justification for her to want to travel to the Lighthouse in Part Three: aside from an enticing sight and some background on what inspires Mr. Ramsay, the lighthouse has little to offer her.

The lighthouse is, however, a representation of family leadership and how power over heading to the lighthouse does have a lot to do with family authority, and particularly with the father’s influence in the traditional home. The lighthouse is somewhat of a symbol of power, and western literature phallic motifs frequently imply that there are issues about daddy happening behind the scenes. The lighthouse can be seen from the vacation house of the Ramsays but split from it by a body of water since Mr. Ramsay likes to stare at it (Woolf, 22) admirably. At the beginning of the novel, James Ramsey wished to visit the Light House. This is why when Mr. Ramsay states they will not be in the capacity to travel to the lighthouse following morning, James Ramsay ponders homicide. If there were a convenient pole, a knife, or some tool which would have plunged holes in his father’s chest and murdered him, then perhaps James would have taken it (Woolf, 44).  Mr. Ramsay and James are infighting about who gets control over the household: Mr. Ramsay is the authoritative figure, so he stands up and says “No! The climate is going to be terrible!” And James is a protester who shouts back asking his father why he had to destroy everything. Most especially, James was starting to bond with his mother in a good way. Ultimately however, James admits that his father seems to always end up becoming correct (Woolf, 44). That makes it more difficult for him. During the first section of the novel, James does not go to the lighthouse and the control of the family continues to remain in the possession of Mr. Ramsay.

Conclusion

The lighthouse in the novel portrays the authority of the family, and the authority of going to the lighthouse has a lot to do with family power. As a result, James does not go to the lighthouse when he wishes, but when his father says so. The lighthouse represents a potent sign of the absence of attainability. James, on getting to the lighthouse, does not get the satisfaction he had hoped for. Lily decides not to struggle going to the lighthouse as she feels the distant view of it brings her the happiness she so desires.

Works cited

Woolf, V. “To the Lighthouse.” (1927): Centenary Editions Series, 1at Ed. Pages 1-224. Book.