"Everything moves, falls, slips, vanishes... There is a vast upheaval of matter." (Wolf 89). In “The mark on the wall ” by Virginia Woolf from 1917, the narrator reflects on the day she saw a mark on the wall and was completely perplexed. As she stares at the wall, the thoughts in her head seem meaningless, just random ideas strung together as they enter her mind He claims to be unable to remember anything, which is the true purpose of his reveries in this stream-of-consciousness narrative, however, it becomes clear that he is really describing the thought process and its challenges. and how difficult it becomes to concentrate when you are overwhelmed by the thought. Say No to Plagiarism Get a Custom Essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned" Get an Original Essay At the beginning of the story, the narrator attempts to identify the first time he noticed the mark. This is possible thanks to the memory of the way the fire illuminated the pages of his book and how he held a cigarette in his hand, making it clear that it was winter and after dinner time. At this point, her memory has a purpose, helping her focus on the sign and discover what it is. Yet, as he sees the fire, his mind wanders to an old daydream of a fire-colored flag flying over a castle, while knights march before him (Woolf 83). This, she states, was “an old fantasy, an automatic fantasy, created perhaps as a child” (Woolf 83), and she states that it is a relief to be interrupted by the sight of the sign, thus ending her first reverie. This is the first occasion that readers experience the wandering mind of our narrator, and the mention of the childlike quality demonstrates the immaturity of the daydream and its lack of connection to what she is actually thinking about. His thoughts quickly jump to the mark on the wall, and then he immediately falls back into daydreaming, this time pondering how exactly thoughts work, as they “swarm” a new idea so aggressively and then disappear, as if nothing had ever happened. happened (Woolf 83). This idea is put at a very interesting point by Woolf, as as soon as the narrator wraps up the idea that thoughts can come and go in an instant, she gets back to the point. Not only has he now stated that thoughts and ideas are impermanent, but we quickly see him in action as he abandons the discussion of thought to once again consider the sign. Whenever she is brought back to the topic of the sign, her mind quickly transports her so that she can make no progress in finding out what it is actually about. The narrator follows this with the idea that the mark was made by a nail, which sends her into another reverie, this time about what might have been hanging there. She insists that it was a “miniature” and accompanies this claim with a colorful but unnecessary description of the woman in the miniature. Without ever telling the audience why, he begins discussing the previous owners' renovation habits and their particular plans based on each room and the age of the place. This catches readers off guard, confirming that thoughts are fleeting and disjointed. As he reconnects with the sign, the narrator's thoughts shift toward the very idea of ​​thought. She is struck by how common the thoughts are and yet vanish in an instant. The idea that something ends as soon as it happens, and cannot be recovered, is emphasized when she exclaims “Oh! Dear me, the mystery of life! The inaccuracy of thinking... To demonstrate how little control we have over our possessions!” (Wolf 84). These “goods” are moments, thoughts and ideas that.