The use of free indirect discourse in this novel creates a unique reading experience.  The narrative shifts focus from one character to another and in doing so creates a fragmentation that can prove difficult to follow.  The reader is given an insight to the minds of the characters and a hidden layer of communication and interaction that the characters do not receive.  For instance, Mr. Ramsay might have known that he upset James on the first pages of the book, but could not have known of James' desire to stab him in the heart as a result.

Woolf also complicates the reading with her description of the passage of time over the course of the book.  In the pre-war segment "The Window," time moves very slowly, whereas in the wartime segment "Time Passes," true to its title, time passes very quickly.  This alteration in the perception of time is based in the perspective of the characters.  Before the war begins, time moves more slowly because nothing exciting or out of the ordinary is happening, and may even seem slower due to possible rising tensions.  During the war, time passes much more quickly because the characters' worlds have fallen into disorder and chaos, and several characters die, including a war fatality.