Mrs. Dalloway vs. Howie
We briefly mentioned this idea during class, but I thought it was interesting comparing Mrs. Dalloway's satisfaction in life to Howie's. In my opinion, I think Mrs. Dalloway is more content with her life, or at the very least more exciting, because of how she describes the environment around her. Howie seems like a character who is very enthusiastic about the most trivial details in life but I think the fact that he chooses to focus on mundane details gives insight that, although he might enjoy talking about those things, his life is probably not as interesting and "joyful" as Mrs. Dalloway's life. However, this doesn't mean that Mrs. Dalloway has experienced a fully carefree life with no sadness since she has just recovered from a serious case of influenza and is going out for the first time, along with the fact that she is surrounded by people who have lost relatives due to the war. Mrs. Dalloway seems to enjoy her life more because she describes her surroundings using such rich and wealthy descriptions, corresponding to her life as a wealthy aristocratic who enjoys the rich city life over the town.
I would argue that the fact that Howie gets so excited about little things, such as the decision to use plastic straws as opposed to paper straws, suggests that if he were presented with an actually impressive event or object, he would be overjoyed. I would appreciate a day as beautiful as the one in Mrs. Dalloway, but I doubt that I could garner as much excitement and energy as Howie does when presented with a straw for his drink. If both characters had identical circumstances, I think that, given what we have read so far in Mrs. Dalloway, Howie would be significantly more engaged and interested. Whether this implies more happiness or satisfaction, I am not sure.
ReplyDeleteI would also argue that Howie doesn't seem to be a dissatisfied character. Even though he chooses not to show the readers his workplace and life in that sense, it doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't think that he is dissatisfied with life. It seems to me more that he is very enthusiastic about the things he sees and does talk about and thinks of those as his life more so than his work, and therefore finds life fulfilling in those ways. One could also argue the opposite for Mrs. Dalloway, as she is shown to have more inner "conflict", if we are to talk about thinking back on past decisions and thinking about what would change if they were to be changed as conflict. Even though on the outside, her life might seem more exciting, perhaps she is the less satisfied of the two protagonists.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point! Maybe there is also some overlap between Howie and Ms. Dalloway, through the two authors styles. Baker describes the great complexity of everyday objects while Woolf embraces the crazy complexity of the mind and of character. Some of the differences you point out could be the two authors rightfully giving value to otherwise overlooked things. For example, Woolf saw the inherent complexity to Ms. Brown and Baker saw that in a stapler.
ReplyDeletePart of me also wonders how much our interpretation of Clarissa and Howie and how they feel about their life is actually a reflection of our own goals and ideals for what a "good" life is. We feel bad for Howie because we wouldn't want that lifestyle for ourselves, therefore we interpret his fixation on the little things as his way of coping with his boring job. On the other hand, we feel more hopeful for Clarissa because she seems to have more boredom and is not "trapped" in what we see as a boring corporate office job. Since Howie never really addresses his opinion on his job, or in fact hardly anything about his job, it is difficult for us to really understand how he feels without implying and projecting our own feelings and experiences onto him.
ReplyDeleteI really like the comparison of Howey and Clarissa. I think Howey definitely has a less interesting life and thats why he focuses so much more are small details. Clarissa's life seems to have much more drama, especially concerning Peter and Richard. Clarissa seems less fulfilled in here life then Howey because she is always reminiscing about the past and what could have been. I think Howey is happy with his life because he doesn't ever seem to complain that much, maybe his doesn't have much drama but I think he is okay with that.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Howie seems to focus on the more trivial aspects of his life, while Clarissa seems to have a more eventful life. However, I think that Howie does genuinely find enjoyment in the trivial aspects of life, as he describes simple everyday objects in such an exciting way, the reader cannot help but see the world from his perspective. Meanwhile, although it may seem like Clarissa is actually doing more with her life, she constantly wonders what it would be like if things were different, if she had perhaps married Peter or stayed with Sally. On the outside, it seems as if Howie is less interesting than Clarissa, but I think as the reader gets to see what lies beneath the surface, it becomes clear that it is in fact the other way around.
ReplyDeleteI love your comparison here. Howie's life is undoubtedly much more uninteresting and uneventful than Clarissa Dalloway's. He is just so occupied over analyzing small things instead of seeing things in the bigger picture, like Clarissa. But he seems happy like that. Clarissa on the other hand just has so much going on in her life and her observations tend to be more about the people and events going on around her, rather than small, minute objects and details like Howie.
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