TTL 1

In the first chapter of Woolf's To the Lighthouse, the characters are introduced to the reader.  One of the most prominent characterizations that stands out is that of James Ramsay.  After his father disagrees with his mother, James feels a violent, murderous feeling towards his father: Had there been an axe handy, or a poker, any weapon that would have gashed a hole in his father's breast and killed him, there and then, James would have seized it" (4).  First, this statement is alarming and makes the readers question James, though we know very little about him.  It seems as if he is mentally unstable and incapable of making logical decisions.  Although hearing disagreeable news can make someone upset, he or she should not feel violent as a result.  The readers also learn about his relationship with his father, which is clearly an unhealthy one.  James's feelings of violence are not solely a result of the news his father brings, but result from "his [father's] mere presence," which is a sign of an unhealthy relationship, very different from most father and sons (4).  The readers also gain insight on James's relationship with his mother, since he believes his mother to be "ten thousand times better in every way than [his father] was" (4).  These combined aspects that are used to characterize James in the first pages of the novel leave the reader wondering about who he truly is as a person, why he is this way, and what will happen as a result.