Preacher 1 Aspen Preacher ENG 2320 Prof.

Smith 17 April 2034 Sleep and Mortality in To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse is subject to extensive analysis for its portrayal of gender and of a patriarchal system. Comparatively few critics hone in on its other themes. Among this minority is Pulitzer Prize winner Bliss Gilliam, who takes an eco-critical angle on the story. While Gilliam is astute in asserting that in this novel the ocean represents "an unyielding force of change, a symbol of time's passage and of certain mortality" (110), her analysis fails to discuss the importance of sleep, images of which consistently intertwine with maritime activity throughout the narrative. This essay argues that sleep is also of central importance for understanding the themes of time and mortality in Woolf's novel. For some characters, sleep demarcates the progression of change over time, while paradoxically punctuating sameness and a sense of futility. Sleep represents resignation and disappointment after a night of anticipation for James, whose mother has falsely raised his hopes that he may visit the lighthouse the next morning (Woolf 3-4). In this instance, sleep marks a barrier between childhood bliss and disillusionment, a pivot joint in his progression into adulthood. However, his wish remains long unfulfilled; he is stuck, incapable of seeing the lighthouse until years later (Woolf 109). Similarly, for Lily, sleep both signifies and limits change. It demarcates a night of hopefulness, when she believes that the next day she will be able to complete her painting, and the following morning when her goal stays unfulfilled, remaining so for years afterward (Woolf 67, 154).

More evidence needed

Preacher 2 From Lily's perspective, sleep is also a threat to one's ability to cherish ephemeral experiences. She cannot shake herself free from the sense that everything this morning was happening for the first time, perhaps for the last time, as a traveller, even though he is half asleep, knows, looking out of the train window, that he must look now, for he will never see that town, or that mule-cart, or that woman at work in the fields, again.

How is it a Sleep is therefore a hindrance that must be struggled against to appreciate life while it lasts. This "hindrance" in the suggests a parallel between sleep and death, both of which constrain and conflict with the goals example you provided?
of waking life. The connection between sleep and mortality is a recurring motif in the narrative. For example, the children have difficulty sleeping while they share their bedroom with a skull, a chilling reminder of death (Woolf 82). Furthermore, Mr. Ramsey likes "that men should labour and sweat on the windy beach at night ... and women to keep house, and sit beside sleeping children indoors, while men were drowned, out there in a storm" (Woolf 123). Here, Woolf juxtaposes the ocean's power to kill with the image of mothers by sleeping children. Death is just on the fringes of domestic life, and sleep is its analogue. Ultimately, the central antagonist in Woolf's To the Lighthouse is not Mr. Ramsey or an oppressive patriarchy, but sleep, the ocean, and what they jointly represent: the passage of time and inescapable mortality.

(Woolf 144)

Interesting Are you sure about that?

Preacher 3 Works Cited Gilliam, Bliss. "The Ocean and Existence in the Fiction of Virginia Woolf." Journal of Literary Naval Contemplation 50.2 (2015): 103-32. Web. 6 Feb. 2034. Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. Ware: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1994. Print.

Aspen, You have a fresh approach with a few well-argued points. However, your draft needs more depth of analysis; it overlooks many textual examples of sleep cast in a positive light. I suggest you revisit your arguments and try to develop a perspective that is not so biased in favor of current social mores.