Sunday, March 30, 2008

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

QUOTE:

"26 April: Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart is and what it feels. Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race." (275-276)

This was one of my favorite quotes in the novel. It really shows Stephen's aim in life, which is to be an artist and experience life through his own eyes and soul. He will function by what he thinks is good and right and will no longer care about the twisted views of others. The new secondhand clothes can be seen as a symbol of his rebirth. To him his life is new. It is there for him to structure and form into what he wants it to be, yet it is really secondhand, since he has already used part of his life and when he devoted himself to function under the rulings of others. He is now going to strive to be an artist who functions under his own individual voice to help the unconscious people in his race create their own voices. Stephen has finally found the importance of being an individual and finding one's inner voice. He has chosen to follow his heart and create for those around him the true meaning of life. The last sentence in this quote just seems so powerful when you read it especially because of the word forge. Forge makes it seem as though it will be hard to do what he is about to take part in. The connotation of the word forge brings to mind the image of a hot room, with a furnace and bright red light, where a person is bent over, hard at work making some type of artwork. So for Stephen, turning his experience into a conscience 'work of art' for everyone to really look at, admire, and except is going to be a difficult task. But Stephen has finally learned how to spread his wings, to be true to himself, and he is about to take flight for the first time, experiencing the freedom and knowledge that comes along with it.

SYMBOL:

Flight is a very important symbol in Joyce's Portrait. It is embedded within the story, even into the character himself, as his last name, Dedalus, is a parallel to a character in Greek mythology who tries to escape imprisonment by making wings for himself and his son and attempting to fly to safety. Throughout the book, Stephen is set on leaving Ireland, yet he must wait so that he does not overestimate his own abilities (his abilities being both living on his own and his intellectual ability). While Stephen grows and becomes intellectually stable, he spends his time at the university where he develops his theories both on aesthetics and on flight. He realizes his passion in writing and buys his time at the university, sharpening his speaking and writing skills as he prepares to flee Ireland. In the last section, chapter 5, birds appear yet again to Stephen, but this time they stay for a longer amount of time in his stream of consciousness and he is able to see them clearly. For Stephen, this is his signal to leave Ireland. He is now fully formed as an artist and writer and cannot express his full potential if he is to stay in Ireland, and so, like the birds, he takes flight. With flight comes the freedom of choice, of speech, and of action, everything that Stephen wanted. Flying is the picture of freedom, and so is one of the most important symbols in the novel.

OPINION:

This was one of my least favorite books that we have read all year. I found it very difficult to read on my own, as I was continually unable to decipher the events and happenings on my own. This is not one of the books that I would pick out to read on my own, for I believe that there was too much background knowledge needed in order to understand what was going on. Without the discussions in class, I would have been lost. The stream of consciousness that the book was written in also made it difficult for me to grasp what was going on, especially towards the end. I found that I had missed so much in my reading of the passages that I was dumbfounded when we went over them in class and discussed what actually happened in that nights reading. This is defiantly not a book that I would bring to read on the beach.

1 comment:

kas43091 said...

I love your analysis of the word "forge" in the passage analysis. I also find this quote ironic, for his mother is praying for Stephen to learn and live his own life, while we all know that Stephen doesn't want anything to do with prayer in his life. However, his simple acceptance of this prayer, "So be it" is another example of his is self-acceptance. He is finally able to be at peace not only with himself, but with the ways of others, like Emma, Cranly, and his mother.
Your opinion is rather strong, however, I am on the same page with you. :) This was a difficult read, and knowing the incredibly important background information is something I forgot to address in my own post.