Study Questions
1. What makes James and Cam nervous as they sit in the boat?

2. Why are James and Cam angry?

3. What is the topic of conversation between Mr. Ramsay and Macalister?

4. Why don’t James and Cam take part in the conversation?

5. What is the pact that James and Cam share?

6. Why does James think Cam will “surrender”?

7. What does Mr. Ramsay think about as he looks back at the shore and their house?

8. What does Mr. Ramsay ask Cam about? What is his reaction to her confusion?

9. What are Cam’s feelings toward her father?

10. What does Cam think about as she looks out to sea?

Answers
1. Cam and James know that their father does not like to wait; they dread his agitation and impatience.

2. James and Cam are angry because they feel they have been coerced to come on the trip.

3. Mr. Ramsay and Macalister talk about last winter’s storm and a shipwreck.

4. James and Cam have made a vow to remain silent, to passively resist their father’s tyranny.

5. James and Cam will resist tyranny to the death.

6. James remembers how his mother would surrender to his father, and he believes that all females will do that.

7. Mr. Ramsay sees himself as he was at the house, walking back and forth, between the urns. He sees himself as old, widowed, and desolate.

8. Mr. Ramsay first asks Cam about her puppy; he then asks her if she knows the points of the compass as she doesn’t seem to be able to see the house. He is annoyed, because he feels all women are hopeless about such simple matters.

9. Cam has conflicting feelings about her father. She adores him, but she also detests his bullying.

10. Cam feels that the house in the distance is unreal— it is the past. She also feels that it is peaceful there.