Septimus' Suicide & The Feel of Loneliness

In the novel Mrs. Dalloway, the character of Septimus Smith particularly caught my eye. He's a shell-shocked WW1 veteran who suffers from hallucinations about his dead feidn Evans. Later, he's taken to a mental institution where he commits suicide by jumping out the window. When Mrs. Dalloway learns of his suicide, she sort of admires him for it, and "felt glad that he had done it".

This isn't surprising, as Septimus' illness was disregarded by everyone around him. The doctors didn't even bother to listen to him, Bradshaw just effectively told him to take a vacation, and nobody really helped took the time to give him any help. This doesn't seem like such a big deal today as we have a better understanding of mental illness and many ways to treat it. But still, something about Septimus' death and Mrs. Dalloway's reaction just sticks with you. Both characters feel alone and isolated, Septimus because his illness tends to push other people away, and Mrs. Dalloway's friends and family are either detached, obnoxious, or overly concerned with their own social status or self-importance. This is further reflected in the style of the novel: the stream of consciousness. Mrs. Dalloway is practically in her own little world, alone.