Jacob

On pages 54-55, something odd happens. I do believe we jump into Jacob's brain. The narrator says that "something is always impelling one to hum vibrating...at the mouth of the cavern of mystery, endowing Jacob Flanders with all sorts of qualities he had not at all...halv of what he said was too dull to repeat...what remains is mostly a matter of guess work. Yet over him we hand vibrating." (55) Jacob is supposed to be this cavern of mystery, yet we have just returned from our trip into his brain. He's not such a mystery, but to other people, he is: Mrs. Durrant thinks he's awkward and distinguished-looking; Clara Durrant thinks he's "frightening because..." but she didn't finish her sentence: "'No, no, no,' she sighed, standing at the greenhouse door, 'don't break--don't spoil'--what? Something infinitely wonderful." (53); Betty Flanders was "unreasonably irritated by Jacob's clumsiness in the house." (54); Captain Barfoot liked him best out of him and his brothers, but he didn't know why.

So how does looking into Jacob's mind serve us? The narrator sort of implies that looking into Jacob's mind is nothing special, and actually quite boring. Why do we keep coming back to him if he is a lame investment of our time? Are we the moths at the mouth of the cave? I would like to think there is more to Jacob than meets the eye, but...? 1200237695

Jacob is like Optimus Prime; there's more to him than meets the eye. The same is true with all characters. We think that we understand them, know who and what they are, but then we come across some truth that makes us all slap our foreheads and say "why didn't I see that?" Because there's more to characters than meets the eye. Thus they need to be imaginatively analyzed. You're an idiot, Mr, Gass.

One of the hallmarks of Woolf's irritating style is that she tries to get us to know everything that is going on. To do this, she, much to my chagrin, shifts all over the place to do this. That is why we have jumped into his brain: to get acquainted with what is going on in his head. As for the narrator's implication that Jacob's mind is boring, perhaps (and I speak hypothetically here) she thinks that her mind is superior to his. After all, she is a feminist. (I'm speaking hypothetically here. Don't chew me out.)

Oh yes, KLe, for some reason my brother was reading over my shoulder while I was posting and found your first sentence highly amusing. Just so you know. 1200267566

I found this topic quite interesting; I was about to open one of my own of a similar matter when I noticed this one. What is so interesting about it is that we are analyzing Jacob, the main character. Now, that would not be so unusual elsewhere, por supuesto, but I remember what the Note says at the beginning of the novel: "//Jacob's Room// asks a lot of its reader; primarily it asks us to share in the effort of configuring the life of Jacob Flanders. It may not satisfy those who are looking for a novel with characters they can easily define . . ." (iii). So is it even possible //to define// who Jacob is or what he is about? He will always be somewhat of a mystery.

Nevertheless, my interpretation of his character is as follows: Jacob Flanders is a very quiet man--this is not because he is shy, though; rather, he is contemplative, and he believes he is superior to many other people. We see him talking to his close friend about endless top-notch literature. We also see him failing to pursue romance with a woman who adores his charming, intelligent, and independent qualities because he views her as too simple-minded -- "In her face there seemed to him something horribly brainless--as she sat there staring" (61). I know there is more to his character, also, but I am not so sure that we are supposed to understand it yet. How can we unless we get more glimpses into his mind?

As for the quote on pages 54-5, Woolf was saying that other people around Jacob do not see him for what he is; rather, they see him as they want to see him (kind of like how many of us read novels -- comprehending charactering based only on what we know, our own lives, or our own selves). For instance, the girls see him as charming, when really he is not that kind. To some, he is awkward, when in actuality he does not lack self-confidence much at all.1200368753

I think that we can also say that Jacob is a hypocrite as well. As our esteemed colleague pointed out above, he fails to pursue a woman who loves him because she is too simple-minded. But then, later on, he has sex with Florinda and gets together with her. This shows his hypocrisy, because she is simple-minded. Her goal in life is to get a guy. Period. And to do this, she gives conflicting portrayals of herself. At one minute she says that she has lost her virginity, the next, she says that she cherishes chastity. So the hypocrite Jacob naturally gets together with the hypocrite Florinda. Touching. 1200535289

"The magnificent world--the live, sane, vigorous world . . . .contained fifty excited, talkative, friendly people . . . he liked them all; he liked that sort of thing . . . . how it pleased him [Jacob] to let himself in with his latch-key at his own door; how he seemed to bring back with him into the empty room ten or eleven people who he had not known when he set out; how he looked about for something to read, and found it, and never read it, and fell asleep" (86).

This lengthy [I apologize] selection caught my eye immediately because I noticed a character trait of Jacob Flanders that had not, to me at least, seemed to be very prominent beforehand. Previously, I had envisioned Jacob to be rather solitary, unless with close friends, and not one to initiate conversation with strangers unless he knew more about them (a.k.a. thought they were good enough to talk to). Here, however, if I see Jacob having a lively time with people he does not seem to know well. Perhaps their first impressions were good, intelligble, or maybe even something a little different from what Jacob is used to. Does he crave more intensity, for instance? intellectual stimulation? physical activity? Jacob does not talk unnecessarily to strangers, but here I get the impression that he can have quite a different personality with other people. What is most surprising about this passage is that Jacob is so pleased with his long night out that he does not even read, after searching for a book that would normally please and excite him itself. He was searching for more knowledge, or answers perhaps, in the book, but then he decides against it. . . why? Is the implication here that this is sometimes overdone or a futile attempt? Where will this bring Jacob now? Maybe the narrator is asking what is more important --- knowledge from experience and people or from facts?1200624116

I think that on pages 54-55 we definitely jump into the mind of Jacob Flanders for the first time. I think that this is an extremely important part of the novel because it is the first time that we have heard how Jacob feels about something in his point of view. In the past, we have experienced all of Jacob's feelings and thoughts from the way other people have reacted. However, through this section, I do not think we discover anything new about who Jacob is and how he feels about certain things. For example, through his reactions to other people we have come to know him as a rather arrogant person and this section only confirms his arrogance. He seems to feel above Bonamy. Although Jacob says that Bonamy is perfect, I got the feeling this was thought in sarcasm. I think that Jacob admits that Bonamy is a smart man, but that his knowledge will not really get him anywhere. Jacob sees the French works as trivial compared to the English works that he himself is well versed in.1200933235