Some of my thoughts...

James Joyce’s A Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man

When I began reading A Portrait of An Artists as a Young Man, I was a bit worried. The stream of consciousness style (including a lack of dates and chronological order) was, at first, difficult to immerse myself in. As the pages turned, I became more and more involved in the individual experiences of Stephen Dedalus as well as how those remembrances were triggered and less in whether or not those experiences created a linear timeline.

It is evident from the first half of the novel that James Joyce’s has written a bildungsroman; although, the tone of the book is not very “happy.” We see Stephen grow from a timid young man, who admires all aspects of his family, to an almost cold cynic, who can see through his own father’s happiness. He often refers to the power of just one word- that, in turn, leads him to an entire conclusion or scene. The title clues us into these beginnings of an artist. There are many important themes in A Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man: nationality, religion, family, self, etc. The book evolves from the contradictions, the push and pull of each, against an individual. The formation of Stephen Dedalus as both an artist and a man arises from these opposing forces.