The Waves Identity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"And now I ask, "Who am I?" I have been talking of Bernard, Neville, Jinny, Susan, Rhoda and Louis. Am I all of them? Am I one and distinct? I do not know. We sat here together. But now Percival is dead, and Rhoda is dead; we are divided; we are not here. Yet I cannot find any obstacle separating us. There is no division between me and them. As I talked I felt "I am you". This difference we make so much of, this identity we so feverishly cherish, was overcome. Yes, ever since old Mrs Constable lifted her sponge and pouring warm water over me covered me with flesh I have been sensitive, percipient. Here on my brow is the blow I got when Percival fell. Here on the nape of my neck is the kiss Jinny gave Louis. My eyes fill with Susan's tears. I see far away, quivering like a gold thread, the pillar Rhoda saw, and feel the rush of the wind of her flight when she leapt." (9b.68)

In discussing the connectedness of the narrators' lives, Bernard explicitly floats the idea that the others may have been simply facets of Bernard rather than separate characters. However, he also insists on leaving this question ambiguous, responding "I do not know" to the question of whether they are actually one and the same or not.