When reading the novel, perhaps the first thing a reader notices is the location “the lighthouse.” The novel, beginning and ending with a journey -- desired on the one hand, real on the other-- to the lighthouse, appears to emphasize the accomplishment of a single task: going to the lighthouse. However, while the journey to the lighthouse commands much interest, to fully understand the complexity of Woolf’s novel, it is more important to observe what surrounds the novel’s ostensible destination: water. 

Despite appearing sullen throughout the journey to the lighthouse, James experiences intense emotional changes while crossing the water. While Cam wavers between her loyalty to her compact with James and her desire to forgive her father, James grimly prepares himself for being left alone in the “resist[ing] tyranny”: “the compact would be left to him to carry out. Cam would never resist tyranny to death.” At his point, James’ emotions are under control. However, his grimness soon transferrs into a strong urge to murder Mr. Ramsay. Sitting in the sailboat, James ardently wishes to escape by “taking a knife and plunging it.” (The source of this wish is the tension that exists between James and Mr. Ramsay. Although James has attempted, in the past, to resolve this tension, it lingers in the boat, resulting from James’ desire for recognition from Mr. Ramsay.) It is also interesting to note the James’ desire to murder Mr. Ramsay -- occurring near the end -- echoes the beginning of the novel, where we are told that, “had there been an axe handy, a poker, or any weapon that would have gashed a hole in his father’s breast and killed him… James would have seized it.” The tension between James and Mr. Ramsay is a conflict that James continuously attempts to reconcile internally. The tension is finally reconciled when Mr. Ramsay says to James “Well done!” The recognition from Mr. Ramsay breaks the tension between him and James. James, who has been pondering the death of his father, is now “so pleased that he was not going to let anybody share a grain of his pleasure.” During the journey to the lighthouse, readers witness James’ change from grim to violently emotional to eventually violently happy.

Cam, who is with James and Mr. Ramsay on the sailboat, experiences equally intense internal changes. Crossing the water, her emotions and internal thoughts intensify then subside. Initially, having sworn a compact with James to “fight tyranny to death,” Cam is determined to honor her resolution. Her determination rises further when her father mournfully says, “but I beneath a rougher sea was whelmed in deeper gulfs than he.” Cam is outraged at her father for his egotism and lack of compassion. Throughout Cam’s childhood, Mr. Ramsay has been dominating her behavior and choices, commanding her “do this,” “submit to me.” Cam is outraged at her father’s continued attempt to dominate her, subdue her emotions, and elicit sympathy from her for his current state. However, when he begins to talk about puppies, Cam’s determination to remain opposed to her father begins to waver. The desire for submission descends on Cam as Mr. Ramsay asks her to name the puppy. She repeats to herself “Resist him. Fight him.” At the same time, however, she struggles to “resist his [Mr. Ramsay’s] entreaty -- forgive me, care for me.” She desires to answer Mr. Ramsay: “she wished, passionately, to move some obstacle that lay upon her tongue and to say, Oh, yes, Frisk.” She feels torn between James and Mr. Ramsay. The former demands her royalty to their compact, and the latter demands her sympathy, forgiveness, and submission. Ultimately, Cam decides to remain loyal to James. 

The fluidity of characters is not limited to characters that cross the water. Lily Briscoe, refuses sympathy to Mr. Ramsay when the latter requests it, feels an overflowing of sympathy after he leaves her. In this short scene, Lily changes from unsympathetic to extremely sympathetic. She is ashamed that her sympathy arrives after the person who has requested has left. Her internal changes echo those of Cam and James. Lily again demonstrates the fluidity of her character when she attempts to reconcile the opposing characters of Mr. (intellect) and Mrs. (instinct) Ramsay in her painting. Lily, who has been portrayed as leaning toward the introspective, is presented by the end of the novel as attempting to reconcile the differences in other people. The changes in Lily again demonstrates that characters in To the Lighthouse cannot be pinned down. Instead, they are fluid -- they change their minds as the plot advances. It is also interesting to note that the word “moment” is repeated over sixty times throughout the novel in different forms. The repetition of the word stresses the changes that occur in the novel and the changes that take place within and between characters.