The passages that introduce the setting mention the end of the Great War in passing, only casually taking the time and effort to simply acknowledge that some have died. The importance was placed on the jovial setting that the end of the war had created for the better. Even when a car, a very new technological introduction to consumers at the time, backfires, people are surprised rather than afraid, even politely apologizing for it, despite the crowd that gathers having nothing to do with the incident. Even more telling is the fact that the sound of the backfiring was likened to that of a gunshot and yet very few people reacted in a negative manner, rather, they even entertained fantasies of having noticed that the prince of Wales, or the Prime Minister was in the car.
Conversely, Septimus Smith is shocked by the noise and falls back onto suffering. He doesn't share the bright optimism by the crowd, but a series if delusions. Unlike Mrs. Dalloway who dwelves into the past of her own will, Septimus Smith is perpetually haunted by his past, seeing his dead comrade among other things. I have not decided what the significance of this duality is, but the contrast that it shows reminds the readers that not all is well even at the war's conclusion.
Very apt observation. In my eyes, Septimus is one of those characters that an author introduces in order to do exactly what you stated, juxtapose the main character. I do believe that he is meant to represent the type of individual completely opposite to Mrs. Dalloway, stuck within his own head rather than choosing to look within his own head as she does. He seems to be suffering from some sort of mental trauma, the symptoms of which suggest a type of post traumatic stress. I do not remember if it is explicitly stated, but he seems to be a war veteran, suffering from a clouded mind, filled with delusion and subsequent fantasy. I did not originally relate him to Mrs. Dalloway, but now I see how eerily similar they are.
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