To the Lighthouse: Mr. Carmichael Divya, Vanessa, JEssica H.

1. Character Background

▸ Age: Unknown. Old. ▸ Profession: ○ Previously: poetry translator, teacher ○ Currently: drug addict ▸ Likes: Drugs ▸ Dislikes: Mrs. Ramsay

“ “An affair at Oxford with some girl; an early marriage; poverty: going to India; translating a little poetry “ very beautifully I believe,” being willing to teach the boys Persian or Hindustanee, but what really was the use of that? -and then lying, as they saw him, on the lawn.”

“ “He did not trust [Mrs. Ramsay]. It was his wife’s doing” (Sec. 7)

Character Background ▸ Motivations: ○ Mr. Carmichael’s inattentive wife belittles him ▸ What makes him tick? ○ Unknown. This makes Mrs. Ramsay uncomfortable. ▸ Why does he behave the way he does? ○ Unhappy marriage

“ “He was unkempt; he dropped things on his coat; he had the tiresomeness of an old man with nothing in the world to do,” (Section 7)

“ “He should have been a great philosopher, said Mrs. Ramsay, as they went down the road to the fishing village, but he had an unfortunate marriage.”

2. Relationships

▸ Mrs. Ramsay ○ Tense relationship due to distrust ○ Doesn’t need Mrs. Ramsay like the other male characters ▸ What he thinks of her: ○ Indifference despite her acts of kindness ○ “she was suspected” (Section 8)

“ “What was obvious to [Mrs. Ramsay] was that the poor man was unhappy, came to them every year as an escape; and yet every year she felt the same thing; he did not trust her” (Section 8).

“ “It injured [Mrs. Ramsay] that he should shrink. It hurt her. And yet not cleanly, not rightly” (Section 8).

ReLationships ▸ His wife ○ Is mean to him. ○ “the little indignities [his wife] made him suffer.” ○ “she had seen that odious little woman turn him out of the house… she turned him out of the room.

3. Images and Symbols

Images ▸ Yellow imagery ○ Carmichael’s appearance ○ Signs of drug abuse ○ Unnatural

“ “Vivid streak of canary-yellow in moustache and beard that was otherwise milk white” (10).

“ “Mr. Carmichael shuffled past, in his yellow slippers” (Sec. 7)

“ “Yellow cat eyes” (10).

Symbols

Thanks! Questions?