Analysis of Virginia Wolfe Fishing Trip

Anyone who breathes has experienced moments that leave an undeniable stain on their being. Whether good or bad, such moments can stick to people like gum underneath a shoe. In Moments of Being, Woolf experiences one such moment. Having the time of her life on a fishing trip with her father and brother, the fun leads to tragedy as her father reveals he no longer wishes to indulge in fishing. Woolf too loses her passion for fishing. Woolf uses description, tone, and metaphoric language to show the moment is always by her side like a faithful watchdog.
As Woolf relives a memorable day, she practically punishes the reader with descriptive language to show just how eventful it really was. Recalling Thoby's "blue eyes" and the "streaming hair" of the jellyfish, Moments of Being almost forces the reader to feel what Woolf did; to experience the misty breeze aboard a ship and the stickiness of the sea. Woolf almost memorizes the affair because of how much it meant to her. She was away from her village in Cornwall and was able to bond and "hang about" with her father out on the vast ocean. Woolf also uses descriptive language to describe the lasting impact her father's words had on her. Having had her passion for fishing "extinguished," Woolf learned that life can be as capricious as a trip to the casino. Sometimes, one can even go home broke.
Additionally, with the changes in scenery from Cornwall to London, a change in the tone that Woolf conveys can also be seen. Using words with a positive connotation such as "passion" and "excitement" cannot even come close to the euphoria and bliss Woolf felt out on the sea with her father. However, as the fire that burned inside her for fishing was slowly smothered, the tone of the excerpt drops like a sack of potatoes. Her "acute" passion for fishing soon became a distant memory. Although Woolf had been taught the "perfect lesson," she could not help but imagine fishing, seeing it only with "momentary glimpses" as