50 pages • 1 hour read
Virginia WoolfThe Waves
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1931A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
This section again opens with a description of the shoreline landscape; the sun has now risen fully.
Neville reveals that Percival has died in India after being thrown by his horse. Neville is grief-stricken and feels hopeless about life. He watches other people on the street going about their day, not knowing about Percival’s death. He resents their ignorance and indifference. Neville feels that life is short and futile. He wonders if there is any point to continuing his social relationships and leans into his pain, refusing to be comforted.
Bernard is torn between joy over his son’s recent birth and grief over Percival’s death. He goes for a walk to think about Percival but finds himself immediately distracted by the concerns of everyday life. Bernard realizes that the reason he was drawn to Percival was that Percival was his opposite; Percival never needed to overexplain, over-describe, or overdramatize an experience or a moment. Bernard wonders who he will be now that his alter-ego no longer lives. Unlike Neville, Bernard wants to be surrounded by people who will help him laugh and celebrate the life of Percival: Bernard decides to visit 
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By Virginia Woolf
