Among the many themes explored in The Hours is the effect that certain pivotal moments have on our lives. The first and most obvious of these moments is described in the prologue: Virginia loads herself with stones and walks into the river. This moment influences the reader's reaction to the rest of the book because interpretations of Virginia's story are always colored by the knowledge that she will ultimately take her own life. In a similar sense, Clarissa's relationships with Richard and Louis are colored by her memories of them as teenagers. She sees these memories as a permanent part of her: "She will always have been standing on a high dune in the summer. She will always have been young and indestructibly healthy, a little hungover, wearing Richard's cotton sweater while he wraps a hand around his neck and Louis stands slightly to the side, watching the waves." Like Virginia, the consideration of Laura's suicide looms over her head for most of the book. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The idea of ​​suicide as escape is particularly prominent throughout the book. Various characters resort to their imagination as a means to escape from the worlds in which they live. Obviously, Laura seems to be trapped in her role as wife and mother. When she prepares the cake for Dan's birthday, she remakes it perfectly but, looking at it, she realizes that it will never give her the satisfaction that a work of art would give her. In his own words, “there is nothing really wrong, but he had imagined something more…this cake he has produced seems small, not only in a physical sense but as an entity.” In a way he is enacting the creative process, but he realizes that his acting will not be enough to make it happen. She draws inspiration to create from her reflections on the life of Virginia Woolf, for whom creating was everything. Virginia, by contrast, feels largely incompetent in everyday life; it is only in creating worlds that he feels competent. After an embarrassing confrontation with her cook that leaves her flustered and frustrated, she decides to give her character "great skill with servants, a manner that is extremely kind and authoritative. Her servants will adore her. They will do more than she asks ". Clarissa Dalloway doesn't create her own worlds for escape; instead, he dwells on the worlds of his memory. She reflects that, in a way, her memories "will accompany her forever." The memories of his past inform his present because it is so difficult to separate his current self from his former self, or his memories of the Richard of his past from the Richard of his present. In a similar sense, reading Mrs. Dalloway influences Laura's perspective on life by offering her the opportunity to "visit" a different world in her mind. Cunningham says of Laura and her neighbor Kitty: "Each of them impersonates someone. They're tired and beleaguered; they've taken on such an enormous job." The "enormous work" that Laura has taken on is relegated to the role of wife and mother. In many ways, she was forced into this role by the expectations of the people around her. Cunningham writes: "Laura is married to a famous boy, a war hero, of Kitty's class and has joined the aristocracy in much the same way that a simple German princess, no longer young, might find herself sitting on a throne beside an English king." The phrase suggests that Laura's place in life was not of her own accord, but rather relegated to her by a greater force. Virginia is also forced to conform to society's expectations, with varying degrees of success. He feels incompetent when dealing with his servant as if she is not the person.