This excerpt from Mrs. Dalloway reveals the state of mind of Septimus Warren Smith, a war veteran with a a. pessimistic outlook on the world. The last two sentences also illustrate c. the struggle to find meaning in life, which is a common characteristic of modernist literature.
His pessimistic outlook of the world can be proved by the character's interpretation of a curious patter like a tree upon the blinds: something bad, mischievous, terrifying; as well as his feeling toward the environment, the world that "threatened to burst into flames". None of his perceptions shows something positive, nor moderate about the world.
And the last two sentences illustrate the struggle to find meaning in life, this is clear when the character questions himself about his purpose, why is he there, rooted to the pavement?. At the same time, this option is characteristic of the modernist literature surged in the early 1900s, where the narration is usually made through interior perception and self-consciousness.
