You won't meet a group of people more obsessed with death and mortality than the six narrators of The Waves. Even as children, their thoughts are peppered by reflections on death and decay, and this grimness intensifies after the death of their good friend Percival midway through the book.
Bernard seems to see his continued efforts to communicate with others as fighting the forces of dissolution and decay, so death and language are kind of intertwined themes in this novel. We also see these six narrators go from morbid little kiddos to morbid old people. Oh, and Rhoda commits suicide.
Pro-tip: don't read this novel if you're looking for a jolly good time.
Questions About Death
- Why does Bernard consistently suggest that language and art can combat mortality and death?
- What do you make of Rhoda's suicide and how it is presented (or not presented) in the novel? What does her death, which occurs near the very end and is only mentioned in passing, do for the novel, narratively?
- How does Percival's role in the novel relate to the theme of death?
- How do the intros to each chapter relate to/further the novel's obsession with mortality?
Chew on This
Bernard perceives language as a means of resisting death because the attempt to convey meaning in language is a process that is always ongoing; it never ends during the person's lifetime, and it even spans eras and generations.
By associating the cycle of the 24-hour clock with various stages in the "linear" progression of human life (from cradle to grave), the chapter intros resist the notion that the trajectory of human life is necessarily one of decline.