At the end of World War I, many people questioned the brutality that persisted during the four years of war. Europeans' trust in authority and in their country began to collapse, and modernism was a way for them to respond to the damage caused by these beliefs. It was obvious that the old world had disappeared and a new one was beginning to appear. In this new world, while other aspects of Europe were progressing, improved psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, for example shell shock, was not effective. Most of British society remained ignorant and indifferent to the problems these illnesses imposed on veterans. This callous attitude toward soldiers inspired Virginia Woolf to write to Mrs. Dalloway. In this novel, she shows us society's attitude towards mental illness by portraying a post-war veteran named Septimus Smith. The author uses Septimus's struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder as a symbol to illustrate the problems of a modern society that does not understand how much the damage of World War I affected people. An example of how Septimus differs from the modern world as a whole is when the plane flies over the people of the town spelling out the word caramel. Most spectators were amazed by this new technology. "'Glaxo,' said Mrs. Coates, in a tense, amazed voice... 'Kreemo,' whispered Mrs. Bletchley, like a sleepwalker... as they looked at all the world because they were perfectly still... (and the car drove in in the gates and no one looked at it)” (20-21). People were so fascinated by the plane; they didn't even care about the arrival of the royal car at the palace. Septimus, meanwhile, is completely lost in his own thoughts and interprets the plane differently. “So, middle of paper ......g to understand the legitimacy and seriousness of the disease. From this unfortunate reality emerged a modernist novel in which Virginia Woolf undertakes to juxtapose the "sane" and the "crazy" in an attempt to express her disgust at the lack of sympathy and blindness of society towards those who suffer from mental illness. Jeffrey. Surviving literary suicide. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1999. Print. Korte, Barbara and Ralf Schneider. War and the cultural construction of identities in Britain. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002. Print. Levenback, Karen L. Virginia Woolf and the Great War. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP, 1999. Print.Ronchetti, Ann. The artist, society and sexuality in the novels of Virginia Woolf. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print. Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. Print.