The plot of Towards the Beacon is secondary to its philosophical introspection. Cited as a key example of the literary technique of multiple focalization, the novel includes little dialogue and almost no direct action; most of it is written as thoughts and observations. The novel recalls childhood emotions and highlights adult relationships. Among the book's many tropes and themes are those of loss, subjectivity, the nature of art and the problem of perception.
This book is in 3 parts. The brief description of the book is written as follows.
Part-1
The novel is set in the Ahuja summer house in the Hebrides on the Isle of Skye. The section begins with Mrs. Ahuja reassuring her son James that you should be able to visit the Beacon the next day. This prediction is disputed by Mr. Ahuja, who expresses his certainty that the weather will not be clear, an opinion that forces a certain tension between Mr. and Mrs. Ahuja and also between Mr. Ahuja and James. This particular incident is referred to several times throughout the section, especially in connection with the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Ahuja. The Ahuja's and their eight children were accompanied by a number of friends and colleagues in the house. One of them, Lily Briscoe, begins the novel as a young, uncertain painter attempting a portrait of Mrs. Ahuja and James. Throughout the novel, Briscoe is plagued by doubts, doubts that are largely fed by the claims of Charles Tansley, another guest, who claims that women can neither paint nor write. Tansley himself is an admirer of Mr. Ahuja, a philosophy Professor, and his academic treatises. When Augustus Carmichael, a guest poet, asks for a second portion of soup, Lord. Ahuja almost catches him. Mrs. Ahuja is out of line when Paul Rayley and Minta Doyle, two acquaintances whom she has engaged, arrive late for dinner when Minta has lost her grandmother's brooch on the beach.
Part-2
The second section," Time flies, " gives a sense of time gone by, absence, and death. Ten years pass, in which the First world war begins and ends. Mrs. Ahuja dies as well as two of her children-Prue dies of complications in childbirth and Andrew is killed in the war. Mr. Ahuja has gone without his wife to praise and comfort him during his bouts of fear and anxiety regarding the longevity of his philosophical work. Part-3
In the final section, "The Beacon", some of the remaining Ahuja’s and other guests return to their summer home ten years after the events of Part I. Finally, Mr. Ahuja plans to make the long delayed trip to the Beacon with his daughter Cam(illa) and son James (the remaining Ahuja children are practically not mentioned in the last section). The journey almost does not happen as the children are not ready, but they eventually make their way. As they travel, the children remain silent in protest against their father for forcing them to come with them. James the sail boat keeps stable and rather than receiving the harsh words he expected from his father, he hears praise, and offers a rare Moment of empathy between father and son; Cam's attitude towards her father changes, from resentment to any admiration. The son cuts a piece of meat from a fish he has caught to use as bait, and throws the injured fish back into the sea. As they set sail for the Beacon, Lily tries to finally complete the painting she has held in her mind since the beginning of the novel. She revisits her memory of Ms. and Mr. Ahuja, balancing the multitude of impressions from ten years ago to achieve an objective truth about Ms. Ahuja and life itself. When she finishes the painting (just as the sailing party reaches the Beacon) and sees that it satisfies her, she realizes that the execution of her vision is more important to her than the idea of leaving a legacy in her work.
