Sally and Elizabeth

I think there are quite a few parallels between Sally Seton and Elizabeth Dalloway.  In a way, I think that Sally can be seen as a sort of grown-up version of Elizabeth (or Elizabeth a younger version of Sally).

First of all, Both Sally and Elizabeth seem to be strong-minded, independent, intellectual young women.  We know all about Sally's pursuits during her days at Bourton, from introducing Clarissa to William Morris, to dreaming of starting a social revolution.  These ideas are similarly innovative to Elizabeth's studies with Miss Kilman, where she has been learning about history and politics.  Although Elizabeth never says it outright, I'm betting that she has similar aspirations to those that Sally had as a young woman.  They are/were both young ladies who are/were very openminded and eager to learn, as well as having big plans for the future.  This brings me to...

Secondly, I'm betting that they have the same future.  And no, it isn't the exciting life of a revolutionary.  We already know that Sally ends up being a housewife with 5 boys - not a much better position than what Clarissa is in.  Considering that Sally had huge ambitions as a young woman (which are very similar to those that Elizabeth has) and she ended up a housewife, I think that Elizabeth will have the same fate.  Although, I think that Sally (and hopefully Elizabeth) is a much happier woman than Clarissa is because she is much more outspoken and stands up for what she wants (even if it's the little things in life).

Finally, they have both influenced Clarissa in huge ways.  Sally and Clarissa's time at Bourton shaped a young Clarissa into the woman that she became.  This is one of the reasons Clarissa keeps thinking back on it over the course of the day.  Sally introduced Clarissa to numerous new ideas and stretched her mind and character.  Although Elizabeth is not stretching Clarissa in any way, she is still a huge part of Clarissa's life.  Of course!  She's her daughter!  Clarissa worries about her a lot, especially about what she's doing with that horrible Miss Killman, which takes up a lot of her time and energy.

The biggest flaw in this argument is that Sally is a much more energetic, outgoing person than Elizabeth is.  In fact, in their relationships, Sally is closer to Miss Kilman and Clarissa is to Elizabeth.  Both Sally and Miss Kilman are the teachers while Clarissa and Elizabeth are the students.  However, I still think that Sally and Elizabeth's love of knowledge and new ideas make them two very similar characters whose lives parallel each other.

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Septimus Speaking

One thing that stood out to me in Margaret Blanchard's article, 'Socialization in Mrs. Dalloway' was her argument that as Septimus was able to communicate better, he became cured. It was not a major point of the article, but I haven't been able to stop mulling over it. I think this fascination might be because the idea was something that I didn't think of before, but which I think rings incredibly true.

I looked back on it and noticed that the closer to 'the end' he gets, the more he communicates - particularly with Rezia. She even notices this, thinking, 'For the first time in days he was speaking as he used to do!' (on page 139) and 'He had become himself then, he had laughed then' (on page 141). Not only does this interaction make Rezia incredibly happy, but Septimus too. On page 141 he thinks, 'It was wonderful. Never had he done anything which made him feel so proud. It was so real, it was so substantial, Mrs. Peters' hat.' His communication with Rezia seems to cure him, if only temporarily. In the beginning of that section, He is incredibly worried about whether or not things are actually real. As the section progresses, and he becomes more involved with Rezia and the hat, he relaxes. He gets less paranoid as he gets more invested in dialogue.

In fact, the section right before the suicide (from pages 138-147) is probably one of the most dialogue-dense sections of the book. You'll notice that, as he devolves, the actual dialogue becomes more sparse. At first, when he is helping Rezia with the hat, laughing, and carrying on a normal conversation, there are roughly four quotes per page. However, when Rezia leaves to return the paper girl to her mother, Septimus starts freaking out again, giving us more thoughts in his head and less dialogue - whether filtered through thoughts or not. From then on, we get less and less dialogue until Dr. Holmes' final spoken line, 'Let her sleep.'

I think that Woolf uses clear, unfiltered dialogue for a couple of reasons. For one, it can represent the way that Septimus is thinking more clearly. Earlier in the day, he is barely able to register the things that other people are saying to him before his mind goes off on a tangent. Compare that to this point in time, where he can not only register what his ears are hearing, but can respond in a coherent manner. Second, I think Woolf uses straight dialogue to show us the connection that Rezia and Septimus are making. Although we do get each person's thoughts on what is going on, the dialogue is not being processed through the judgmental filter of people's brains (which are just another layer of separation between human beings).

His ability to carry on a conversation with Rezia definitely shows that he is not as paranoid and not hallucinating (at the moment), meaning that he is healthy enough to be thinking properly. However, I also think that his investment in the conversation is part of what helped him get better (even if temporarily). You know how, if you are feeling pain, you can become invested in another thing and use that to distract yourself and, for the time being, no longer feel the pain? I think that that is what is happening to Septimus when he is holding the conversation with Rezia. His whole self is invested in that interaction, so he almost completely forgets about his issues. I believe that his communication is not only a sign that he was becoming cured, but also a means to be cured.

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The Novel About Nothing

The successful TV show 'Seinfeld' is commonly called 'the show about nothing.'  They would use the most banal, everyday things, to make hilarious plots around them.  From dealing with tough servers to trying to find a parking space, they have taken the most mundane things in life, and elevated them, made them important; much like Nicholson Baker does in his novel, The Mezzanine.

Baker (or Howie) covers such simple topics as doorknobs (or the lack thereof), and still manages to make them interesting.  He shows us the personal connections that Howie makes with all these otherwise bland objects and ideas, which flavors them and makes them interesting to the reader.  The best example of this is the footnote that begins by discussing doorknobs, and ends with his (touching) excitement over the fact that a tie that he had given to his father 'fit right in!' with the rest of his father's ties.  Not only does this footnote show the reader how much Howie cares about his dad's approval, it also allows the reader to connect with Howie on a deeper level, on the basis that everyone wants approval from their own authority figure(s).  These deeper connections happen all throughout the book (and the footnotes) and are one of the reasons that The Mezzanine is more than just a bunch of little ideas and anecdotes.

Baker is also able to put his finger on many of the truths which are usually found in pithy facebook statuses with lots of likes or on the front page of reddit.  Most people usually have a hard time articulating these facts, but as soon as they see them they have mini epiphanies.  One observation that Baker made, which I found to be particularly true, is "reaching a top step but thinking there is another step there, and stamping down on the landing...'  He also states truths that are already universally known and acknowledged, but puts them in a different, more amusing light.  This is perfectly demonstrated in the passage where he talks about going to the bathroom.  "The problem for me, a familiar problem, was that in this relative silence Don Vanci would hear the exact moment I began to urinate.  More important, the fact that I had not yet begun to urinate was known to him as well."  For some, these observations - and thus Howie -  may be seen as weird or abnormal, but I prefer to see him as someone who is just like everyone, he just states more plainly things that we can't or won't.

The final way in which Baker elevates the mundane is through his use of language.  He uses colorful prose which not only captures the readers attention, but also opens their eyes to (even more) little truths.  You probably never thought of it that way before, but after he calls the heads of staplers 'brontosaural,' you will never not be able to see them as such.

Like Seinfeld, Baker's The Mezzanine puts many nothings against a clean background, making them stand out.  However, as one wise woman I met pointed out, with so many nothings, it is truly a 'show about everything.'  In the same way, The Mezzanine isn't about many nothings, it is a novel about everything.

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