Bernard is trying to develop himself as a man of words, constantly observing others, while Neville studies literature and dreams about Percival. Bernard and Neville attend the same college. The characters are now trying to refine their personalities, whilst still struggling to come to terms with themselves. Susan goes back home, Neville and Bernard go to university, Rhoda and Jinny go to London and Louis goes straight into a job.Īt the beginning of the third section, the sun has risen and the birds are in full song. By the end of the section, the characters divide even further. Percival does not have a monologue, but he plays an important role in all the character lives. This section introduces the male character, Percival. As the section continues, the character's monologues detail their reactions to being at boarding school and their time back at home during the holidays. The story begins by describing the girls and boys leaving for separate boarding schools. The second section describes the sun still rising, but the waves are getting rougher. The section then explores the character's personalities during childhood and the time they spend together at day school. The story begins with a short monologue from each character that relates to an early morning scene. The first section describes the sun rising and the day gradually coming to life. With the use of monologue, stream of consciousness and structure, the book shows the friends as one entity, detailing how the individual struggles when they try to move away on their own.

The description goes from very early morning in the first section, when the characters are children, to the end of the day when the character are moving toward the end of their lives. Each of the nine sections begins with a description of the sea, its surroundings and the position of the sun in the sky. The Waves follows the lives of six friends, Jinny, Bernard, Neville, Louis, Susan and Rhoda.

The waves virginia woolf pages