To the Lighthouse - Point of View

The ever-changing perspectives in To the Lighthouse presents the reader with a better overall character understanding. Learning about a character from more than one point of view prevents bias judgment by a reader, and in turn enables a reader to further understand a character as a whole. Mr. Ramsay is addressed in several different narrations, but specifically those of James and Mrs. Ramsay. After Mr. Ramsay crushes James' hopes to go to the lighthouse the following day, the six year old has violent thoughts about his father: "Had there been an axe handy, or a poker, any weapon that would have gashed a hole in his father's breast and killed him, then and there, James would have seized it" (8). Although not going to the lighthouse seems like it should be a minor disappointment, James obviously feels passionately about wanting to go, and he does not appreciate his father already saying no. Mr. Ramsay's insensitivity towards his youngest son provides the initial introduction for his value of reality. He does not believe in false hope, and he does not want his children to either, which is why he is blunt with James. Mr. Ramsay is trying to help his children prepare for the disappointments of the future, but his seemingly pessimistic outlook on life does not make him liked by his children. The initial introduction of Mr. Ramsay comes from James' point of view, and it makes the philosopher appear brutally honest and insensitive.

Although Mrs. Ramsay believes her husband to be harsh, she does not feel the same hostility towards Mr. Ramsay as James. Mrs. Ramsay does not approve of her husband's quest for truth, and reflects on his behavior: "To pursue truth with such an astonishing lack of consideration for other people's feelings [...] was to her [...] an outrage of human decency" (35). Initially it appears that Mrs. Ramsay is furious with her husband's insistence on disappointing James, but immediately after her reflection she thinks, "There was nobody whom she reverenced as she reverenced him" (35). Although Mrs. Ramsay does not approve of her husband's behavior towards James, she whole-heartedly respects Mr. Ramsay. Unlike Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay does not align his actions and decisions with emotions, and he is only concerned with the truth. Mrs. Ramsay respects her husband for his views on life, even though she does not like that he preaches his apparent cynicism onto her innocent and sheltered children. She understands that her children will have to face the cruelty of the world in the future, but she wants to spare them from the pain until it is inevitable. Both James and Mrs. Ramsay do not like Mr. Ramsay's behavior, but Mrs. Ramsay is mature and experienced enough to understand why her husband behaves the way he does.