Just Who is Mike?

In class, we spend most of our time talking about and focusing on the main characters like Brett, Jake, and Cohn in The Sun Also Rises. However, we spent a lot less time talking about more minor characters like Mike that still have a roll in the novel. When we did talk about him it was almost always in the context of Brett and how Mike was behaving. And while very little is said about who Mike is, as a character, the same is true for every single character. So this makes me ask the question just who is Mike?
At the start of the novel, we are introduced to Mike is a typical Hemingway fashion. Jake asks Brett "Heard from Mike?", without giving a background or any information at all to who Mike is. The next time we hear about Mike is when Jake is talking to Cohn about Brett. During that, we learn that Mike is Brett's fiance, his full name is Mike Campbell, and that he's going to be very rich someday(although that seems to contradict what we learn later in the novel).
After that, the next time we hear about Mike is when he actually comes into town and we get to see what he is like firsthand. And from the start, he matches the stereotypical drunk Scotsman. When we are introduced to him he comes into the conversation drunk. But he's not like Brett or Jake when he's drunk, instead he is more of a messy drunk where he is very energetic and talkative to the point of repetition. Mike being this messy drunk is a trend that continues throughout the book. In that scene, we also learn that Mike is in the process of declaring bankruptcy. That contradicts what Jake said about him which could mean that Mike might be a smart enough to get rich or that he is going to inherit his families money.We don't actually know what he does for a living, but we do know he has an ex-partner in some sort of business so he could be a lawyer. We also learn later that he had a lot of creditors. But for the most part, he doesn't seem to have a job anymore and seems to just be waiting for the inheritance. 
We also learn that he was a soldier and tells his story of the medals he got. This is an interesting contrast to Jake who's wound from the war is ironically funny to himself, in the same way, Mike's story wasn't exactly funny from his own point of view. But that is about all we know about Mike. While in Spain we learn so more minor details like the fact that he knows about Brett's affairs and even talks to her about them, but doesn't care unless they think it is something more than what it is. We also get insight as to why he might be bankrupt because he owes money to people that are in Spain and borrows money from people while he's there.

Exploring The Hours

The Hours was a very interesting spin-off of Mrs. Dalloway. There were parallels between the actual book and the modern spin-off part of the movie that made sense. It also gave a sense to how Virginia Woolf may have lived her life and some of the struggles she faced. There were also some connections between when Woolf was writing Mrs. Dalloway to the modern version.
One of the most interesting changes was the end result of who ends up with who. In the modern version Clarissa marries Sally, which suggests that that is the way she really felt in the book but was restrained by the time period.  I felt like that was a definite possibility while reading the book and the addition or change of that in the movie made sense. Since the expectations and freedoms changed by the time the modern version took place it felt like it really was a modern version, because I feel like if Clarissa had the choice she would have chosen Sally.
Another interesting thing about the movie is the miss-mash of characters that the movie calls Richard. When I was trying to line up who was who in the movie and in the book he was very hard. Richard in the movie seemed to be a combination of Richard, Peter, and Septimus at times. He seemed like Richard simply because that was the name they gave him and all of the others matched. Yet, since he didn't end up with Clarissa he reminisces about the movies version of Bourton when he was with her. He also seems like Septimus because he is a poet, had mental illness, and he had a romantic relationship with Louis Waters like Septimus might have been able to have with Evans. He also commits suicide near the end of the movie. I feel like the movie was very successful in it's portrayal of what might have happened between all of the characters given a modern setting.

The Growing Understanding of Septimus Smith

When we are first introduced to Septimus Smith it was a very brief segment and yet he already stood out from other characters in Mrs. Dalloway. When the reader is first introduced to Septimus it is as part of the motor car scene. His response when compared with the responses of the other people who see the car is quite different. While everyone else was looking at the car wondering who might be inside, Septimus was watching the car itself and instead of who might be inside he worried about what message the car was trying to deliver to him. And when his wife interrupts his thoughts by saying "Come on" to get him to start walking again, he seems to snap out of some sort of daze, showing that he really was seeing things in his own altered reality.
Later in the book when Septimus and his wife, Lucrezia, are in Regent's Park we enter the mind of Septimus for a third time (the second being shortly after the motor car scene) and it is then we the reader begins to get a growing understanding of Septimus. In this scene you are in his head for longer so you see his altered reality for longer. Because of this it become obvious that he normally sees things that other people do not. He sees things ranging from his dead friend Evans to a dog turning into a man. However, he also sees the simple things in nature with a sort of exquisite beauty. For example he sees a leaf floating in a breeze as an "exquisite joy." This helps us understand Septimus because it shows that he really sees the world differently. In the motor car scene it is obvious that Septimus is different but it isn't easy to pinpoint exactly how. This scene also shows that Septimus not only sees things but it hyper sensitive to the things he sees normally like the leaf in the air. By advancing our knowledge of Septimus it develops the character even though so little time has passed in the story.
Later in the book we learn of why Septimus became the way he is now when the narrator tells his story. We learn that he started out as an aspiring poet who was very romantic and not overly masculine. His boss at the firm he works at criticizes him for this and wants him to play football to become more manly. Instead Septimus volunteers for the army. The narrator doesn't describe his experience in the war with any specific detail but instead focuses on his relationship with his commanding officer Evans and the friendship that forms and how Septimus doesn't feel anything when Evans dies. Because of this we learn that the root of Septimus' emotional trauma is his lack of emotions when his friend dies and how he continued not to be able to feel permanently after the war. Because Woolf separates his story into segments like this we get a sense of character development despite the fact that the current day Septimus isn't changing. This realization only leaves us with the question of how will our understanding of Septimus change from now on.