The Waves

Louis is now a successful businessman. Every day at noon, his assistant brings him letters to sign. He loves the telephone and the typewriter that allow him to make changes halfway across the world from his cozy London office, and he feels strongly his power as he and other men of commerce impose order on far-flung and “chaotic” parts of the world. He almost feels as if his success outweighs the humiliations of his past, of his working-class and colonial heritage. At night, he eats by himself in restaurants, reading poetry. He does everything with practicality and certainty. He has very little time to spare, especially if he wishes to retire comfortably to the countryside like other merchants of his status.

But Louis is still drawn to the mysterious part of life, too. He and Rhoda have become lovers. He sometimes feels that the tasks and impressions of his day lack weight and substance and that he isn’t making a real impression on the world. When he doubts himself, he doubles down on the actions and rhythms of his days, reminding himself that it is humanity’s duty to impose order on the world.

Susan, now married and raising her children, no longer tracks the changing of the seasons as once she did. Her entire existence has become wrapped up in the form of her baby, whom she rocks in the cradle and to whom she continually murmurs, “Sleep, sleep.” She imagines herself as a cocoon, wishes she could turn body into a cradle itself in which to continually shelter her babies. She lives her life by the rhythms of the domestic day, cooking and dusting and sewing clothing in the evenings. She feels overstuffed with “natural happiness” and sometimes wishes for the weight of it to fall from her shoulders, to fly to London where Jinny beckons people to parties. 

Even past 30, Jinny remains deeply attractive. Her life is an endless series of parties at which she meets a never-ending stream of people. Each has his or her own story, full of tragedies and triumphs, and Jinny knows many of them. But in the end, she cannot fix them in her mind or care too much about them. She never rests in one place or with one person for long, instead leaping from thing to thing. At parties, she still draws the attention of men. For a short while she can get wrapped up in that experience of near-union. But then the spell breaks, and she’s on to her next conquest.

Neville, “neat as a cat in [his] habits” longs to have someone to share the most intimate parts of his life and his soul with. His life only seems to have meaning when he has a lover. And he measures everyone against Percival. In the perfection he imagines his latest lover to have, he finds a balm for what he feels is his own deformity, his failure to live up to the severe ideals of classical virtue. Romantic relationships make him feel complete, but then when they end, he’s utterly heartbroken and bereft. So, he wishes to hold tight to each one in defiance of the passage of time.