In Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus Smith is a character who leads a tortured existence. He suffers from shell shock (PTSD) in a society that doesn't acknowledge this fact and is in large part unable to help him. As a result, his sense of perception is off, and his train of thought seems to be completely altered by his wartime experience. But is Septimus' way of thinking really so off?
Essentially, Septimus' philosophy about the world is that the world is cold and without feeling. He places blame on the world that he himself cannot feel (for the death of Evans, his wife Rezia, or really anything or anyone else), and he mentions that "it might be possible that the world itself is without meaning." This is arguably a reasonable conclusion by someone who has been to the hell of the trenches of the Great War and back. Soldiers in the trenches had to accept whatever fate had in store for them, and there was nothing they could do about it. The war didn't discern between good and bad men, it just killed. Intangible things that make us human like emotion, friendship, and morality were brushed aside; they had to be. By detaching himself from these things Septimus set himself up in a position where he wouldn't be (too badly) affected by the carnage around him, and as a result "developed manliness."
However, isn't it these intangibles (emotion, morality, relationships with other people) the things that make us human? These are the things that give life meaning. These are the things that really give this world meaning for us humans. Without these things, we are just cold, passionless pawns of whatever task we happen to put ourselves to, much as Septimus was in the trenches of World War I.
War is often described as dehumanizing, and I think that term is quite apt. It not only dehumanizes the enemy and makes the horrific normality, but it also dehumanizes a nation's own soldiers. The related concept of military manliness also dehumanizes by promoting a detachment from emotion, friendship, and morality. Due to Septimus' particularly dehumanizing experiences during the war (forming such a close relationship with Evans and having that ripped away), he has become detached from these things which give the world meaning.
At the start of the war Septimus was an idealistic young writer looking to "save an England which consisted almost entirely of Shakespeare's play and Miss Isabel Pole." He clearly had a passion for literature (wanting to be the next Keats) and of course for Isabel Pole. By the end of it he was congratulating himself for feeling "very little" emotion. When he becomes engaged to Rezia, he panics because he cannot feel. In one paragraph, Woolf paints the dehumanization of Septimus in a (ironically?) dehumanizing fashion. With his humanity ripped away by the war and unable to get it back due to his PTSD, Septimus really does feel that his life and this world have no meaning. Not only does Septimus believe the world has no meaning, he believes that authors (Shakespeare, Dante, Aeschylus) throughout the ages have believed this as well. If one has no passion, love, or general emotion for anyone or anything, can you really say that person's life has meaning?
Here's to hoping the world has meaning!
And isn't it Septimus's emotional dissociation from the world that makes him not really care if he lives or dies? If he's a pawn, or a robot, carrying out actions with no attachment, he's not finding meaning in any of it either. He's a symbol for the thousands of veterans just like him, but does he know anyone else is like him? Is he aware that even though the world has meaning for him, it doesn't for anyone else?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that we see Septimus' plight as hopeless and meaningless as he struggles throughout the novel. However, despite his lack of emotion and disbelief in meaning, his story is covered quite a bit. Perhaps Woolf is shining light upon experiences with depression - in that time period - through Septimus' story. As discussed in classtime, Woolf also suffered from depression and ended her own life. She portrays the thought processes of someone that is deemed abnormal and zooming in on their lives, experiences, and what ultimately leads them to commit suicide. Through this portrayal of Septimus, Septimus might think his own life is meaningless, but to the reader, his life is (one of, if not the) most meaningful in the novel.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right that Septimus' life has meaning. First, there's Rezia who loves him. Clearly he means something meaningful to her. You are also very correct that Septimus' life is meaningful, and in some ways absolutely critical to the novel. It not only adds a compelling narrative but also enhances the other main narrative (Clarissa's) by giving it greater universal relevance. Septimus' life is also meaningful since it, as you said, shines light on experiences with depression. Really, Septimus is the only one who sees his own life is meaningless. Thanks for your astute comment.
DeleteI really liked this post - I think it’s interesting to think about dehumanization as not just something you can do to someone else. When most people hear that word, we think of how someone can make the enemy seem evil or make a certain group seem invalid (for example, as slave owners dehumanized their slaves), but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the meaning. After reading your post, I now realize Septimus literally was dehumanized, not by the society around him making him seem like some sort of monster, but by his human traits literally being taken away from him. I think this realization made me feel much sadder for Septimus’ situation, more than I already was.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. During the war Septimus definitely lost a lot of the qualities that we value in humans, like emotion and morality. It is striking when we compare the shell-shocked current Septimus with his past self who was full of ambition and emotion. I also think that the dehumanization of Septimus continues when he characterizes Dr. Holmes, who he dislikes, as "human nature". This distances him from humans (and suggests that he no longer wants to be like other humans?) which goes along with the points you made in your post.
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