Death in Lolly Willowes

"The word dropped into her mind like a pebble thrown into a pond. She had heard it so often, and now she heard in once more. The same waves of thought circled outwards, waves of startled thought spreading out on all sides, rocking the shadows of familiar things, blurring the steadfast pictures of trees and clouds, circling outward one after the other, each wave more listless, more imperceptible than the last, until the pond was still again. (219)

From this passage, occurring immediately after Satan says 'death' to Lolly, we can envision Lolly's mind being the pond and the pebble representing death. Satan wants to hunt Lolly and protect her. This puts her in the same position as all the women she met in London who have accepted the value system she has been trying to escape.

Death has been symbolized throughout the novel in the form of a stuffed bird and the leaves in autumn. It is seen as a cycle with the pond becoming still after the ripples and spring arriving after winter. The death of Lolly's freedom came when her father died. The finality of death is represented also by Sybil and Caroline. By leaving London, Lolly feels that she is again awake after sleeping for 20 years. Leaving London is the feminist equivalent of running from death. By choosing to behave neither aggressively or passively, Lolly can achieve her goals. One of the most important lessons from her encounters with death is that she learns to open herself up to nature by understanding it. Through this openness, she allows herself to be changed in order to live with nature. Lolly also finds autonomy and learns that she must be assertive to survive. She becomes still after the ripples...and she lives.