Abstract:
A twentieth century novel, Mrs. Dalloway, written by Virginia Woolf is a unique
masterpiece that depicts a single day of Clarissa Dalloway together with interrelated
major and minor characters using interwoven texture style and multi-personal stream
of consciousness technique in which we, as readers, get into a flux of ordinary
people`s ordinary lives through lens of different themes and symbols mainly; a
desired death led by suicidal thoughts which stems from the idea of inevitable,
circular time rather than linear, natural elements (trees-flowers, waves-water), and a
sense of pessimism overweighing optimism reflected throughout the novel. As the
novel influenced many people by its provocative inner voice of imposing committing
suicide as a relief from all burdens and a possible way of becoming immortal, in
other words, if facing the fear of death is inevitable why do we keep living? Woolf`s
contemporaneous Said Nursi, an eastern scholar, religious writer and famous for
his collection of Risale-i Nur (a collection of 14 main books and many booklets
interpreting around 300 verses of Quran) also inquires and presents solutions to
the above mentioned themes and symbols in Mrs. Dalloway that come to be either
obstacles leading us into deep pits of eternal pessimism or torches enlightening
the pathways that lead us to salvation, elevated hopes of optimism and eternal
happiness by achieving immortality. This article is aimed to be a first step for further
studies of presenting the two contemporary writers with their approaches and point
of views in terms of character analysis, psychological and social background, and
analysis of Said Nursi`s approaches and answers to the questions raised by Woolf`s
Mrs. Dalloway.
