1. Analysis of a passage
pg. 275 (bottom of page, 26 April)
This passage provides closure for the book in a sense that Stephen and his mother are accepting of eachother. She understands that he is going to go out and live his own life and she is okay with this. "She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends and what the heart is and what it feels." She is no longer pressing her religious, often oppressing views on Stephen, she is tolerating the fact that he is a young man now and needs to be away from home. She hopes that he will know what the heart is and what it feels, which shows that she loves him very much and will love him no matter what. It also shows that she understands that he is going to learn things on his own and trusts that he will end up in the right direction and will learn what is truly right in life. This shows that there has been a great change in the relationship between Stephen and his mother which is very significant in the category of coming of age and growing up, maturity, and acceptance which are all dominating themes in the work. By Stephen saying "Welcome, O life!" it is as if he is living life for the first time and is no longer afraid of the afterlife or consequences shall he not follow a strictly relgious life. He is ready to embrace all that comes with being an induvidual expressing and living out life to the fullest. He is not going to cower away from life and all of its challenges, he is going to welcome them because he has grown so much and is a man now.
2. Analysis of a theme/symbol
A theme in this book that is very prevelant is the artist and what it means to be a true artist, along with what has to be reached in order to gain the status of being an artist. Stephen has always set himself apart from everyone both in his mind and physically by other people who set him apart. He knows from an early age that he is different. Portrait of the artist as a young man has the theme of the artist in the book a lot. Even in the beginning of the book he is wondering the strangest things that no other kid could possibly think of. Part 5 really brought in the component of the artist. By Stephen's journal entries, we see that he has finally taken on his own induvidual voice and is proclaiming it. He is not afraid to express his opinions. There is a definite distinction between Stephen and everyone else. Although it is not conceit, Stephen knows he's above a lot of people, even his professor whom he recognizes when he says something that is not entirely true. Even his classmates he is seeing that he is above them. An artist does not pride himself in being more advanced than others, he accepts it and quietly lives with the thought in his mind that he is different and clearly more intelligent than the mediocre general public.
3. Thoughts/opinions on the novel
This book was a little hard to understand but I think the more I read and attempted to understand what was going on, the more I got used to the style that was used and I felt almost connected with the writer. It wasn't my favorite book ever and I will probably never read it again, but it almost made me want to write a novel like this, and for this reason I found it strangely inspirational. I think its fascinating to think about how different humans are from one another and what distinguishes one stream of conciousness to another. Portrait illustrated it perfectly. It was life and thoughts and nothing was censored and I admired the book for that reason, because sometimes thoughts are so private and hard to interprete even our own. This is why I can see the value of this book because reading it made me realize how challenging it must me to capture a person in their entirety and pose the question of who is Stephen as a human being residing in Dublin, Ireland. Although not earth shaking and spell bounding, the stream of inner conciousness provides for a different look at mankind and what sets the artist apart as well as the development of a philisophical and critical mind.
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