t paint women can t write These private thoughts make the novel modern and psychological Time and Death The section Time Passes is very modern Time flows like a silent character Woolf writes Mrs Ramsay died that night Prue Ramsay died that summer Andrew was killed by a shell These deaths are not told in long stories but in short flashes The empty summer house dust and spiders show time s power This is a modern way of writing different from Victorian style Symbolism and Art Modern literature uses symbols The Lighthouse is a symbol of dreams and memories Mrs Ramsay promises to go to the Lighthouse At the end James reached the place Lily Briscoe s painting is also symbolic At last she says I have had my vision Art becomes a modern way of giving meaning to life To the Lighthouse is modern in technique theme and style The stream of consciousness the flow of time and deep symbols make it powerful Mr Ramsay Mrs Ramsay James Cam Lily Briscoe and all events in the summer house create a true modernist novel