Mrs. Dalloway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mrs. Dalloway - Essay Example The first hint of difficulty is Mrs. Dalloways scattered thoughts as she moves back and forth in her mind between the present and the past. While her character is very clear, the narrative does not remain rooted on her, instead flitting back and forth between descriptions of the day and her internal reactions to them. It even takes time to drift into the minds of other people who see her or who are nearby until it finally drifts completely free to settle back down on Mr. Smith for a while. The novel is very difficult to read if you try to keep track of all the characters and details, but if you allow your mind to drift free a little bit like the narrative seems to do, then the book becomes much easier to follow. Part of what makes Mrs. Dalloway a difficult book to read is because of the way in which its written. The book is written like a constant stream of thought as it flows from one mind to another through the course of a day. Although the main action focuses mostly on Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway and Mr. Septimus Smith, there are many other characters introduced. Thats part of what makes the story so difficult. The reader has to learn how to quickly filter through which characters are important and which ones are just mentioned for the sake of moving the thought around, usually as it makes its way from Mrs. Dalloway to Septimus Smith and back to Mrs. Dalloway again. An example of this comes when Maisie Johnson asks Mr. and Mrs. Smith for directions in Regents Park. The narrative jumps into her head as she makes her way through the park until she is seen by Mrs. Dempster. Mrs. Dempster thinks about her and her likely prospects as compared to the life Mrs. Dempster has lived until she is distra cted by the aeroplane in the sky, which is also seen by Mr. Bentley. The way these transitions are carried out is very smooth. As Mr. Bentley watches the plane, he thinks of it as a symbol "of