To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is an odd novel with many unique traits. The strangest trait in this novel is the author’s use of time. The use of time seems to be used to show emphasis in a way that is counter-intuitive to typical ideas. Woolf seems to emphasize events which pass more quickly. This is seemingly opposite of what one would expect: to emphasize events by slowing down the narrative and adding detail.

The unusual use of time is also used another way in this novel in the passage of time before, during and after the war.  Time before the war goes by more slowly as life has meaning, and even detail feels necessary to reveal the entire story. However, as the war starts and deaths begin, the novel’s pace increases drastically. This seems to say that as death increases to monumental proportions, everyone becomes more numb, and the details feel less necessary. This causes the story to feel extraordinarily flat as though someone is writing without passion, with no feeling for the writing – or even for living.

Several themes have shown up multiple times in the book thus far. One of these themes is one that is very closely associated with the war itself: unexpected and continual deaths. The way the death comes so suddenly and almost without reason is the same as with the war in which senseless death would happen almost daily at the time.

A second theme that must be noted is that in the first part of the novel, the waves are seen as a symbol of destruction and death. This theme is brought up again at the end of the second part of the novel as Lily is sleeping in the summer house after ten years away. She is said to be sleeping and dreaming, but she can still hear the waves. This shows that even though the war is over, those touched by the war will never be the same. The war will always reverberate in their minds and lives – just like the waves do in Lily’s mind.