search for order in the face of impermanence

The two main characters of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse interpret and find meaning in the world around them in two different ways. Mrs. Ramsey seeks a form of meaning that exists independent of her in the world. Lily, on the other hand, won't rely on meaning that is predetermined or inherent in the world outside of her own perception of it. Both of these positions are problematic because neither one of them actually allows the characters to establish a way in which to understand their world. It is only when Lily gains insight from Mrs. Ramsey's position that she is finally able to form a new, third strategy, represented in the act of painting, which allows her to create a kind of meaning that succeeds where her and Mrs. Ramsey's original strategies had failed. In the completion of her work of art she has both represented her vision and established her own way of relating to and understanding her world.