Monday, October 24, 2011
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (chapter one)
Extend the class discussions about James Joyce's depiction of the developing consciousness of Stephen Dedalus' by explicating a single passage in chapter one. Be thoughtful. Be thorough. Be specific. Be resourceful. Be inquisitive. Take intellectual risks. Explore. (Mr. Telles and Mr. Cook have posted comments to help. A few of the student responses already posted also serve as effective models.)
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In class we discovered very quickly the difficulty in analyzing the plot and story aspects of a novel written in such an unconventional voice. I've found it's much easier to narrow your perception of each moment described, and analyze the specifics of plot locations for motifs and particular passages before attempting an overall grasp of what is happening. A few moments I found key to this portion of the book and the beginning of Stephen's characterization were as follows.
ReplyDelete"When they were grown up he was going to marry Eileen. He hid under the table. His mother said:
-O, Stephen will apologise.
Dante said:
-O, if not, the eagles will come and pull out his eyes." pg 4
This selection points to the preening of Catholicism from very early stages in Stephen's life. His rebellion in the face of such strictness is manifested in his boyish crush on the protestant girl Eileen. To me, as an American, the reference to an eagle being blinding suggests that too much freedom will remove Stephen from his purpose and lead him away from the safety of rules, particularly those of religion. In the remainder of the chapter he is continually questioning what is right and what is wrong, whether this is a result of his guilt in not apologizing(we never find out if he does), or the natural inquiry and analysis of a growing mind and morale is unclear. We see this when he is unaware whether he is supposed to kiss his mother goodnight, whether he should take his unjust in-class punishment to the rector, his inability to sort out whether rumors are true or not based on their severity, and his clear confusion over the Christmas table discussion.
"He sat looking at the two prints of butter on his plate but could not eat the damp bread. The tablecloth was damp and limp. But he drank off the hot weak tea which the clumsy scullion, girt with a white apron, poured into his cup. He wondered whether the scullion's apron was damp too or whether all white things were cold and damp."pg 10
Coldness and dampness are motifs throughout the first chapter, and their association here is much related to the implications of the eagle in the previous quotation. Things that are white tend to be pure and sacred particularly in the eyes of a Catholic: white means clean, cleansed of sin. The bread is another Catholic reference, to that of the holy communion, it is in essence Jesus' flesh. Stephen's inability to "swallow" the idea that Jesus represents due to its purity, just as the white apron is repulsive to him because of the perfection it illustrates, points to his continued questioning of Catholic ideals. For a growing Catholic mind and faith it is threatening to consider the idea of spiritual cleansing, as the concept, however passion-driven it may be, is based around the reasoning involved in Jesus' death and resurrection. Such intellectual and spiritual leaps are overwhelming and difficult for a young person to fully grasp. The wetness embodies the figurative "slippery-ness" of the Catholic ideals for a boy of Stephen's position and age.
PART 2!
ReplyDelete"And though he trembled with cold and fright to think of the cruel long nails and of the high whistling sound of the cane and of the chill you felt at the end of your shirt when you undressed yourself yet he felt a feeling of queer quiet pleasure inside him to think of the white fattish hands, clean and strong and gentle." pg 40
In a home where sin is greatly discouraged, there is guilt felt even when wrongly accused of something, brought on by the disappointment of those you respect and love. In this case a punishment for any degree of wrong is welcomed, as it relieves this sense of guilt, no matter how painful or humiliating. This quote represents his acceptance of scolding and consequences to satisfy the guilt he feels in the face of wrongs he is aware he has committed but hidden from the world. It just so happens that the wrongs of another would yield the punishment he seems to thrust upon himself.
The penetration of Catholicism into Stephen's consciousness is extremely evident in all three selections, however, his opinion towards it is yet to be discovered. He possesses many morals and rules that he attempts to abide by, but it is clear that he is unsure of their reliability and purpose. The remainder of the book should hopefully answer for us and Stephen their significance and the true nature of their results.
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ReplyDeleteHi Everyone:
ReplyDeleteI'm posting a copy of an email (for the benefit of my students) that Mr. Cook sent his AP Lit students to help underscore what we're looking for as you walk us through your section of Chapter I. Here it is:
In class I've tried to frame our discussion of A Portrait of the Artist around a few related questions: What are the conflicts and tensions in Stephen Dedalus' life? How are those conflicts and tensions related to religion, nationality, family, and language? How are they related to his developing consciousness (sensations, perceptions, ideas, and feelings) as a young man and as an artist? How does Joyce use literary strategies--repetition of words, permutations of related images, allusions to Catholic and Greek mythology, etc.--to weave additional strands of meaning into all of the above?
On the blog I'd like you to apply these questions to a particular section or passage from chapter one that we either haven't comment on or haven't commented on fully. Look at the passage very closely. (As closely, or closer, than I discussed that single paragraph on page 4 of the brown book. Discuss everything you notice and how what you notice relates to our guiding questions.)
I've attached a file in which I've broken chapter one into several sections. You can choose one of the sections I've created or you could create your own section. (Make sure its rich and dynamic enough to be worthy of your time and analytical efforts.)
We'll talk about this more tomorrow. (Note on due dates: Read chapters 2 and 3 for Monday (10/31). Complete the blog assignment for Monday, too. These due dates should allow you to focus on your college essay which is due Friday (10/28). This should be a polished essay. No typos. No errors. Proofread carefully.)
"The bell rang for night prayers and he filed out of the study hall after the others and down the staircase and along the corridors to the chapel. The corridors were darkly lit and the chapel was darkly lit. Soon all would be dark and sleeping. There was cold night air in the chapel and the marbles were the colour the sea was at night. The sea was cold day and night: but it was colder at night. It was cold and dark under the seawall beside his father's house. But the kettle would be on the hob to make punch.
ReplyDeleteThe prefect of the chapel prayed above his head and his memory knew the responses:
O Lord, open our lips
And our mouths shall announce Thy praise.
Incline unto our aid, O God!
O Lord, make haste to help us!
There was a cold night smell in the chapel. But it was a holy smell. It was not like the smell of the old peasants who knelt at the back of the chapel at Sunday mass. That was a smell of air and rain and turf and corduroy. But they were very holy peasants. They breathed behind him on his neck and sighed as they prayed. They lived in Clane, a fellow said: there were little cottages there and he had seen a woman standing at the halfdoor of a cottage with a child in her arms, as the cars had come past from Sallins. It would be lovely to sleep for one night in that cottage before the fire of smoking turf, in the warm dark, breathing the smell of the peasants, air and rain and turf and corduroy. But, O, the road there between the trees was dark! You would be lost in the dark. It made him afraid to think of how it was.
He heard the voice of the prefect of the chapel saying the last prayer. He prayed it too against the dark outside under the trees.
Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation and drive away from it all the snares of the enemy. May Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace and may Thy blessing be always upon us through Christ our Lord. Amen."(pg 14-15)
PART 2 AGAIN
ReplyDeleteI chose this passage because it contains the most blatant references to Christianity, while still pointedly addressing some of Stephen's inner conflicts. In the first paragraph, Joyce repeats the words "dark," "cold," and "night" several times each. At Stephen's level, these phrases suggest the fear brought on by the concepts of Catholicism that are far above his intellectual reach. However, by using this language, Joyce also conveys another possible inner conflict for Stephen, that perhaps comes about later in the novel; that of the blinding aspects of religion. Depending on the extent and methods by which a person accepts and applies Catholic references and ideals to life, they can morph into a perception lacking understanding, one that forces its believers into navigating life as though they were in a dark room, unable to see where they are going due to the removal of specific concepts.
Joyce then moves on to associate the cold and dark with something wet(the sea) and his father. Stephen's relationship with his father is rather ambiguous throughout the story, and it is unclear whether they have a growing and nurturing one, or one of deceit and confusion. It is clear that Stephen admires him and wishes to be like him through the Christmas scene, but based on the actual conversation, it seems as though his father's ideals may be at least partially malignant to Stephen's life at school. The darkness connected with his father suggests the danger in succumbing without question to his mindset.
With the blindness and questions about Catholicism and his father, it seems only natural that the next step would be to ask for help. Though Stephen does not ask directly for it, "his memory" recalls the responses to the pleading prayer of the priest. The following paragraph relies heavily on the senses. The interactions between them however seem to blur the lines between separate ones, suggesting one has the ability to smell a sensation of touch or sight, such as a "cold night smell." Stephen seems unsure what the word holy means, knowing only that certain scents remind him of chapel, such as the smell of the peasants. He is confused as to whether uncleanliness should be considered sinful. He says the peasants do not smell holy, but that they are very holy. He even associates their house with the darkness he sees in religion and in the more human context of hard work manages to find it comforting. It is only when he is faced with pure creation, and the perfection of nature that the darkness begins to be threatening. Stephen has the innate knowledge that human beings are infallible, and that attempts at achieving perfection are unholy pitiful tries to put ourselves on a level equal with God. On the other hand, Joyce mocks the child in Stephen, pointedly showing us his fear of the dark and the foolishness of a young person to associate darkness with evil monsters. Despite this, the prevalence of an adult perspective on darkness being used a metaphor for the evils of society makes this rather ironic.
Stephen uses the final prayer to sooth his own fears, not necessarily believing in the capabilities of angels, but having no choice but to rely on the prospect of their existence to drive away the evils of the night, and the potential evils of his father. It will be interesting to see if Stephen's perception of religion is altered by what his father voices at the Christmas table, or if the Catholic ideals of his prefects will destroy the image of his earthly father.
I chose the passage when Stephen went to tell the Rector that Father Dolan had unfairly pandied him. While Stephen was walking to the Rector’s office he walked past many pictures of saints. He drew courage from them. Before this point in the novel Stephen had never stood up for what was right, never for when he was done wrong. When the other boys pushed him into the ditch and then he got sick, he never told on them.
ReplyDelete“An old servant was sweeping at the end of the landing. He asked him where was the rector’s room and the old servant pointed to the door at the far end and looked after him as he went on to it and knocked.
There was no answer. He knocked again more loudly and his heart jumped when he heard a muffled voice say: - Come in!” (Joyce, 49)
The mere thought of turning Father Dolan in terrifies him. However, even when the rector tries to just gloss over it and make it seem as if it is no big deal Stephen is stubborn and gets his point across. It was not right for Father Dolan to pandy him when he could not see the lesson.
After Stephen leaves and the boys all come up to him and ask how it went. Stephen told them what had happened and everyone celebrated. It was an empty win though because after they celebrated the other boys left Stephen alone. Even when he stood up for himself the others did not want to be friends with him.
In an environment in which symbols of social and cultural significance abound, Stephen’s reactions and interpretations of them are interesting to follow. This strong cultural influence can be found in many forms. Often, it is that of a conflict, a divide. In this passage, the motivation for student performance is competition based upon the War of the Roses. Stephen’s appointment as a member of the Lancaster team is certainly no accident. It is in keeping with the sense of adversity, alienation and conflict throughout the first chapter. In the War of the Roses, York, the white rose, lost.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting especially in this passage, though it is something he does throughout, is Stephen’s focus on the sensations he interprets from these symbols. It is as though the symbols, such as York and Lancaster, are present for the reader, but not for Stephen. He seems to understand the seriousness of the competition itself, as his heart races to complete the sums. But suddenly he gives up, and lets himself slip into a daydream-like train of thought.
Instead of conjuring images of valor, or war, or anything of that sort, the colors red and white are for Stephen “beautiful colours to think of.” Stephen seems to occupy a world of thought in which there is good and bad, positive and negative. Ambiguity is a highly disconcerting force, and it doesn’t seem to have much of a place in Stephen’s mind. He’s having enough of a job figuring out what is good and what is not as it is, never mind the fact that such a quest is quite futile. He obsesses with colors: the red, the white, the blue of Jack Lawton’s shirt, pink, cream and lavender. These are all good, and thus occupy his attention and focus instead of the stressful math.
Still forming and figuring things out, he thinks eventually of the color green. Can there be such a thing as a green rose? His answer to himself I find very striking: “perhaps somewhere in the world you could.” Stephen is very unsure of himself, or anything around him. While he soaks up his environments influences and experiences emotions based on comfort and positivity or the lack thereof, he does not exercise critical thought. Instead of telling himself that a green rose would be preposterous, he does not say so outright. He has not seen the world, and with the point of view of it that he has gained from the boarding school (that the world is a very far away, interesting place full of all sorts of things), he cannot be sure that somewhere, a green rose exists. This attitude of acceptance and a lack of critical thought are essential to the way in which his environment affects him.
erm.. right.. forgot to mention that was in regards to passage 4 of those which were procured and emailed to us. The passage about york and lancaster and the sums.
ReplyDeleteIn passage 7, the quote, “But though there were different names for God in all the different languages in the world and God understood what all the people who prayed said in their different languages still God always remained the same God and God’s real name was God,” spoke volumes to me. Religion is one of the main conflicts and tensions in Stephen’s life. He is unsure whether to view religion like his father or Dante. His father sides with nationality over religion, and Dante whole-heartedly believes in religion over nationality. The different views of his father and Dante create tension in the family. Stephen is branching off from the thought processes of Mr. Dedalus and Dante. He is using his own thought process, thereby developing consciousness, to try to make sense of God’s role in life. He comes to the conclusion that no matter what nationality you are, what language you speak, God is God. In order for Stephen to realize this, Joyce uses literary strategies such as repetition of words and allusions to Catholic mythology. Joyce repeats “God” and emphasizes “God’s real name was God.” This quote is not only important to Stephen, as he is growing into a young man, but important to readers as well. The words of Stephen’s thoughts and Joyce’s words provide people with something to believe in.
ReplyDeleteI chose passage section #13, where Stephen is taken to Brother Michael at the infirmary, simply because I liked the Stephen’s reference to the song Brigid sang to him.
ReplyDeleteThere was a clear reference to “cold” and sunlight”, “bell”, “sad” and “beautiful”. The passage had a reference about Stehpen’s wonderment on “death”. In the beginning, Brother Michael is shown conversing with the fellow out of third of grammar about the walking papers while he rakes the fire. He had watched the fellow turn to the wall and fall asleep. Stephen pondered whether his parents would be informed of this misshape, while he had imagined writing a letter to his mother that he was sick, and that he wanted to go home, because they were so far away. He had described “sunlight” as “cold” outside the window, even though it was strange in the fact that “sunlight” could never be “cold”. I compared “sunlight” as his family, and the “cold” as the physical distance between them. Although, like Sarah said, it is still a mystery of what the “real” relationship between Stephen and his father.
He immediately wonders if he would die, especially if he would die on a “sunny” day, which is associated as a “good” and “happy” day, or before his mother came to pick him up (if she does decide to pick him up after receiving his “letter”). He speculated a “dead mass” where all the fellows would be wearing “black” with “sad” faces, where the rector would be in “a cope of black and gold” with “tall yellow candles on the altar and around the catafalque”, where his coffin would be buried in the “little graveyard of the community off the main avenue of limes”, and where Wells would be sorry for what he had done while the “bell” tolled. The “bell” is normally associated with “freedom” since some people associate “death” as “freedom” from “life”. Also, it reminded me of St. John from Jane Eyre because he saw India as a place where he would die, a way into gaining “freedom”.
The song that Brigid sang to Stephen...
Dingdong! The castle bell!
Farewell, my mother!
Bury me in the old churchyard
Beside my eldest brother.
My coffin shall be black,
Six angels at my back,
Two to sing and two to pray
And two to carry my soul away.
The song reflected Stephen’s current situation well, since his “letter” had been addressed to his mother, although I believe the book had stated that Stephen was the oldest amongst his siblings (he was the only child at the Christmas dinner). During the first chapter there is many sightings of singing and praying, whilst the song mentions two angels singing and two praying. Stephen described it as “beautiful” and “sad”, especially where they said, “Bury me
in the old churchyard”. He had cried for the words that were like music, “The bell! The bell! Farewell! O farewell!” The passage ended with the “cold sunlight” becoming weaker (where I interpreted it as being that Stephen would get better and that his wonderment about his “letter” and “death” would be pushed aside), Stephen being thankful for the bowl of beef stew because his mouth of “hot” and “dry”, (symbols made from the beginning of the book), and how he could hear the day at college going on like he was with the other fellows (a sign that he still isn’t really part of the group).
(Sorry for the summary.)
I decided to tackle the first two pages of the book, which starts out with Stephen at a very young age. In just these two pages Joyce brings up "that queer smell", and "his mother had a nicer smell". Smell, as we know, is a common idea that is constantly brought up. Joyce also brings up Stephen's first sign of weakness, while Stephen is on the field playing with the boys. This scene also brings up Stephen's struggle with socializing and becoming part of the group. He has a hard time with the other children and compares himself to Rody Kickham. Already at such a young age, his conflicts are in view. Lastly, birds are consistently brought up in this scene. First Stephen's aunt, Dante, threatens that if Stephen doesn't apologize that the eagles will come and claw his eyes out. Then while he is on the field with the other boys he says "the orb flew like a heavy bird".
ReplyDeleteOne passage which piqued my interest was shortly after Stephen returns to school, when the children are discussing those who were caught, and the punishments to be received. The students were caught either partaking in either wine theft or vague acts of homosexuality, and, despite the relatively harmless “crimes” committed, the students are going to be punished by flogging, an unusually stern measure. The extremely disproportionate punishment is nothing new to the students, as they anticipate they will all be punished for the wrongs of the perpetrators, which shows that they are used to the idea. In fact, they laugh about it, just treating it as another constant. Stephen, however, as evidenced in his sense of being wronged when later struck by the prefect of studies, is not as accepting as the other students; he held unfair beatings with sufficient gravity to wonder why the others would laugh about such a matter. He regarded pain issued from the cane as “cold”, which seems to have meant that the discipline meted out was impersonal and unfeeling, with a simple intent that was more concerned with making students behave than being fair. He treats all punishments of the time with this regard, as evidenced by when he points out that the cold feeling is felt ”when you let down your trousers”, as is done before they are punished.
ReplyDeleteQuick note. After reading some responses this morning I want to remind you that when do this kind of passage analysis you want to discuss *everything* you notice.
ReplyDeleteWhat does the text suggest about Stephen, his consciousness, aspects of his environment, his relationship to his environment? Does the text suggest something about different aspects of consciousness: sensation, perception, feelings, ideas? Does the text suggest anything about family, language, nationality, religion? What is happening with imagery? What is happening with other mythological and archetypal correspondences (Christianity, Greek mythology)? What do you have to say about the style and tone in the passage? And then how does all of the above within your passage relate to other passages in chapter one!?!?
To this end your analyses will often be longer than the passage you are analyzing? Why? Because in the text the multiple levels of meaning are compressed and compact; furthermore, meaning is often suggested but seldom explained. In your passage analysis you explicate (yes, that's a word) and unfold the meaning. The passage when explicated (unfolded) will be bigger than when compressed (folded).
O.K. class is about to begin. All the best.
Mr. James Cook
The players closed around, flushed and muddy, and he went among them, glad to go in. Rody Kickham held the ball by its greasy lace. A fellow asked him to give it one last: but he walked on without even answering thefellow. Simon Moonan told him not to because the prefect was looking. The fellow turned to Simon Moonan and said: —We all know why you speak. You are McGlade's suck.
ReplyDeleteSuck was a queer word. The fellow called Simon Moonan that name because Simon Moonan used to tie the prefect's false sleeves behind his back and the prefect used to let on to be angry. But the sound was ugly. Once he had washed his hands in the lavatory of the Wicklow Hotel and his father pulled the stopper up by the chain after and the dirty water went down through the hole in the basin. And when it had all gone down slowly the hole in the basin had made a sound like that: suck. Only louder.
To remember that and the white look of the lavatory made him feel cold and then hot. There were two cocks that you turned and water came out: cold and hot. He felt cold and then a little hot: and he could see the names printed on the cocks. That was a very queer thing.
And the air in the corridor chilled him too. It was queer and wettish. But soon the gas would be lit and in burning it made a light noise like a little song. Always the same: and when the fellows stopped talking in the playroom you could hear it.
In this passage Joyce repeats the words suck, and queer to describe things as bad, dirty, and weird. First a boy used suck to describe Simon Moonan as a kiss ass, and this is seen as bad by the other children, so Stephen feels the word is bad, and he often associates bad with dirty. Then Stephen described the word suck as queer, giving the impression that he finds it a weird word, and that he is uncomfortable with it. He remembered when he had heard something that sounded like a sucking sound, and it was when dirty water went down the drain. This is a connection Stephen made about the word, choosing to dislike it, because it reminded him of the dirty water, and dirty is bad. He then though about the lavatory, and felt both hot and cold, because it is a place that is both dirty, but a place were you clean. Also the sink has both hot and cold water that were turned on by cocks. Cocks is a word Stephen describes as queer, this shows his dislike for cold, and the word suck again. The cold air in the corridor was wet and queer, this is an attempt to connect his dislike of the the weird and the wet in the passage into one dislike. The air was wet, which in this case refers to cold, and the water going down the drain, so the dislike of suck was in his head; but he also disliked it becomes it made him feel uncomfortable, which is why he described it as querr. So through this passage we know that queer id weird/uncomfortable, and that suck is wet, and cold, and bad.
I choose section 22 and 23 when stephen is unfairly punished by the prefect of studies
ReplyDeleteThrough out this section the colors white, black, grey and red are repeatedly mentioned. It makes me picture a black and white photograph with red hightlights drawn upon it. This portion of the story is very much about Stephen developing his since of right and wrong. The black, white and grey imagery may be symbolism for right and wrong, darker and purer emotions. Father Arnall is depicted as "black faced" when he becomes upset at the boys idleness. Stephen also wonders what kind of man Father Arnall would be had he not become a jesuit. He considers it with in the frame of colors. "It was hard to think what because you would have to think of them in a different way with different coloured coats and trousers and with beards and moustaches and different kinds of hats." Stephen is comparing different emotions and traits with colors.
Father Dolan uses "lazy idle loafers" to refer to the students many times. This creates a since of irony, Father Dolan has nothing better to do then declare the students idle. Stephen is scared of Father Dolan not only because he hits him but also because he is "grey faced". Father Dolan gives off no clear emotions he is grey. Stephen is particularly upset by the fact that Father Dolan first, in a wold be kind gesture, steadies his hand and then turns around and strikes him. This kid of contradiction sits very poorly with Stephen who want go and bad to fall into clean neat columns. He also dislikes the idea that he is being paired with the boy who was to his mind justly punished. Stephen struggles with the mixing of good and bad and comes to the realisation that things can not be just whit or just black, grey and sometimes red happen too.
Part 1
ReplyDeleteHe looked at Athy's rolled-up sleeves and knuckly inky hands. He had rolled up his sleeves to show how Mr Gleeson would roll up his sleeves. But Mr Gleeson had round shiny cuffs and clean white wrists and fattish white hands and the nails of them were long and pointed. Perhaps he pared them too like Lady Boyle. But they were terribly long and pointed nails. So long and cruel they were though the white fattish hands were not cruel but gentle. And though he trembled with cold and fright to think of the cruel long nails and of the high whistling sound of the cane and of the chill you felt at the end of your shirt when you undressed yourself yet he felt a feeling of queer quiet pleasure inside him to think of the white fattish hands, clean and strong and gentle. And he thought of what Cecil Thunder had said; that Mr Gleeson would not flog Corrigan hard. And Fleming had said he would not because it was best of his play not to. But that was not why. (Joyce, 40)
An in-depth analysis of a passage is an effective way to delve into the story for a fixed amount of text and emerge with a better understanding of what is being suggested. The passage I picked is one that is rich with imagery, feelings, ideas and sensations while still withholding a prominent style and tone.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteAthy’s depiction of Mr. Gleeson’s “rolled up sleeves” is a clear symbol for power and control. This gesture is done in hope that Stephen would have a better understanding through portrayal what exactly is in store if he is to receive a beating. The subsequent description of Athy’s “knuckly, inky hands” is used as a means of distancing Stephen, and the reader, from the boy through an element of fear and disfigurement. This vivid image stirred about uneasy feelings for Stephen. The description of Mr. Gleeson’s sleeves continued, as Stephen noted his prestigious shiny cuffs, which could ultimately symbolize power and wealth. Mr. Gleeson’s physical body comes under scrutiny, as Stephen notices his “clean white wrists and fattish white hands”, suggesting that the man has the means to take care of himself, and therefore uses those means to the fullest extent. Stephen goes even further, noticing Mr. Gleeson’s finger nails. Their physical length and shape seems animalistic and savage to Stephen. This distances Stephen significantly from Mr. Gleeson and causes numerous ill feelings and a questioning perception. Stephen ponders the thought of Mr. Gleeson paring his nails, which artificially suggests power and prestige. This also could suggest, too, that Mr. Gleeson has a decidedly latent feminine, nurturing, and caring side that Stephen could find attractive.The constant repetition of the words long, pointed, and cruel drive home the animalistic similarity and symbolism for Stephen. Stephen begins to contradict his own stream of consciousness, when he asserts that Mr. Gleeson’s hands are not cruel, but gentle. The high whistling sound of the cane and the chill he feels when undressing are two sensations that are decidedly unpleasant and generally uncomfortable feelings that Stephen wants to avoid all together. When Stephen mentions his “queer, quiet pleasure” the tone suggests that this comfort is wrong in all facets. Lastly the name of the man Stephen mentions, Cecil Thunder, who will ultimately flog Corrigan, and the name of the man Stephen has been scrutinizing for the entire passage, Mr. Gleeson, have play on words that might suggest something about their character. Thunder is generally associated with fear and destruction, and this Cecil Thunder character is a man that is very capable of destroying someones life and instilling fear through violence. The “glee” in Mr. Gleeson’s name could suggest a hidden side to him that Stephen may be able to locate in time.
It is clear that this particular passage was filled with Stephen’s perceptions, feelings, ideas and sensations that constitute his vivid stream of consciousness. This passage echoed many of the other vivid passages from the text we’ve read thus far, as being uncomfortable, witnessing something unpleasant, a contradicting stream of consciousness, being fearful yet full of scrutinization, and plenty of other points are constantly being brought up throughout the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
I used the context of Passage 20, but I focused on the following two paragraphs:
ReplyDelete“Athy grinned and turned up the sleeves of his jacket, saying:
It can't be helped;
It must be done.
So down with your breeches
And out with your bum.
The fellows laughed; but he felt that they were a little afraid. In the silence of the soft grey air he heard the cricket bats from here and from there: pock. That was a sound to hear but if you were hit then you would feel a pain. The pandybat made a sound too but not like that. The fellows said it was made of whalebone and leather with lead inside: and he wondered what was the pain like. There were different kinds of sounds. A long thin cane would have a high whistling sound and he wondered what was that pain like. It made him shivery to think of it and cold: and what Athy said too. But what was there to laugh at in it? It made him shivery: but that was because you always felt like a shiver when you let down your trousers. It was the same in the bath when you undressed yourself. He wondered who had to let them down, the master or the boy himself. O how could they laugh about it that way?
He looked at Athy's rolled-up sleeves and knuckly inky hands. He had rolled up his sleeves to show how Mr Gleeson would roll up his sleeves. But Mr Gleeson had round shiny cuffs and clean white wrists and fattish white hands and the nails of them were long and pointed. Perhaps he pared them too like Lady Boyle. But they were terribly long and pointed nails. So long and cruel they were though the white fattish hands were not cruel but gentle. And though he trembled with cold and fright to think of the cruel long nails and of the high whistling sound of the cane and of the chill you felt at the end of your shirt when you undressed yourself yet he felt a feeling of queer quiet pleasure inside him to think of the white fattish hands, clean and strong and gentle. And he thought of what Cecil Thunder had said; that Mr Gleeson would not flog Corrigan hard. And Fleming had said he would not because it was best of his play not to. But that was not why.”
In the first part of this passage, Stephen objectifies a word: “pock”. He first mentions the word as a noise, and comments on the sound the word makes. He next relates the word to what it represents: pain. However, he distances the sound from the feeling, though initially he used the sound to associate with and clarify the pain. He connects them as though both are separate entities. This is another example of Stephen noticing the word as both a sound and shape and as its meaning, which we delved into in class last week.
The next technique I noticed in the passage was very similar; he connected objects and sounds very directly. He used the cricket bats with pock, wondered about the sound of the pandybat, and noted the whistling sound of a long, thin cane. The importance of this lies in its descriptive quality; it offers a slightly abstract but characterizing description.
Another significant symbol that I noticed was shivering. It is said that the pain “made him shivery to think of it and cold.” Coldness comes up earlier, especially when he was thrown into the cesspool. “Shivery” is repeated twice more in the following sentence, which reinforces the symbol. Joyce often poetically repeats words and weaves them in to different parts of a paragraph. This deepens the impact of the symbol or adjective and adds to the aesthetic quality of the passages. An additional point on the use of “shivery” is its meaning in relation to him removing his trousers; Stephen notes that when letting down one’s trousers, for punishment or for a bath, a shiver is felt. The shiver seems to come from his discomfort, both sexually and physically. There is tension in Stephen’s sexuality brought up multiple times previously in the passage, and it is appropriate here due to the nature of the punishment, and it resulting from “smugging.”
Stephen asks, “O how could they laugh about it that way?” when his peers are laughing at Athy’s comment on the punishment. This echoes prior uncertainty with the humor of those surrounding him; when asked whether he kissed his mother, he was unable to give a satisfactory answer, and either way the boys would have laughed at him. The joke was lost on Stephen, and further distanced him from those around him.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important symbols in the passage is the white hands of the Father. Stephen notes his “clean white wrists” and “fattish white hands”. The repeat of white solidifies its important. It also reminds of the relation to women. This section in particular resounds with Stephen’s discomfort with his sexuality. Stephen mentions the priest’s hands very similarly to how he talks about women. He also brings up the “long and pointed nails” (long is another repeated adjective - “long and cruel” in the next sentence) of the priest, which are similar to those of Lady Boyle (a boy who is obsessive of his nails and thus called a lady). The intertwining of feminine and masculine (“long and cruel”) descriptions compacts the tension in Stephen’s uncertainty with sexuality and gender roles. A final aspect of this discomfort with sexuality is the “feeling of queer quiet pleasure inside him to think of the white fattish hands, clean and strong and gentle.” Again, the shaky relationship between the Father’s hands and women, and Stephen’s confusion regarding the general roles of male role models and women in general, is concretely delivered in this quote.
Overall, I think this passage serves to reveal Stephen’s discomfort with the boys and men around him, and with women - mothers, friends, feminine hands, et cetera - in general. It is important in developing Stephen’s relationship to sex and sexuality in coming chapters, and it is rich with important and well defined symbols.
Stephen looked with affection at Mr Casey's face which stared across the table over his joined hands. He liked to sit near him at the fire, looking up at his dark fierce face. But his dark eyes were never fierce and his slow voice was good to listen to. But why was he then against the priests? Because Dante must be right then. But he had heard his father say that she was a spoiled nun and that she had come out of the convent in the Alleghanies when her brother had got the money from the savages for the trinkets and the chainies. Perhaps that made her severe against Parnell. And she did not like him to play with Eileen because Eileen was a protestant and when she was young she knew children that used to play with protestants and the protestants used to make fun of the litany of the Blessed Virgin. Tower of Ivory, they used to say, House of Gold! How could a woman be a tower of ivory or a house of gold? Who was right then? And he remembered the evening in the infirmary in Clongowes, the dark waters, the light at the pierhead and the moan of sorrow from the people when they had heard.
ReplyDeleteEileen had long white hands. One evening when playing tig she had put her hands over his eyes: long and white and thin and cold and soft. That was ivory: a cold white thing. That was the meaning of Tower of Ivory.
I'm writing about one part of section 19, the first big paragraph of the last portion of the Christmas dinner. The entirety of the passage serves multiple purposes: characterizing Stephen's family, further establishing the setting (specifically, the nature of religion and nationalism in Ireland), and perhaps most importantly, establishing a lot of Stephen's development and potential futures. Right in the beginning of the section, it shows Stephen (in childhood's naivete) wrestling with the opposing views of Dante and his father. He thinks that Dante must be right if Mr. Casey is against the priests, but then he contemplates what his father has said about her (that she is a disgraced nun) and thinks that that has made her severe. His elder's show no conception of compromise so he doesn't think of it either.
In further regards to Stephen's development, the opening talks about Eileen, and displays Stephen's confused ideas about women (which seem to have been further confused by Dante.) At the end of that section, he indirectly refers to Eileen as a “cold white thing.”
It is also worth mentioning Dante as an alternative influence on Stephen as opposed to his father, and not solely in the religious sense. But the book shows her as a potential artistic influence as well, as she is a painter. And as if just to underline the idea, she is referred to by the name of a famous writer. A writer who is known for his books about Christian (Catholic, I think?) hell, purgatory, and heaven.
I chose the 4th section of the passages. This passage is about the academic contest between two teams that are represented by the roses that represent Lancaster and York. Stephen is on the York team and he does not do very good. After his round, he thinks about his opponent, Jack Lawton, he is one of their team's best players. Stephen then wonders about the color of the roses.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things I notice is that Stephen fails. Throughout the book, Stephen does not understand things, whether it is politics and church with his father or understanding a problem in a contest. He tries his best but he does not get.
Another motif is Stephen comparing the color of roses to himself or something. After he could not get the answer, he compares his face to the color of his rose. He becomes cold and frustrated that he couldn't win. Then after being frustrated he realizes that he'll live.
Stephen has a tendency to wander off with his thoughts In class. After losing, he goes to thinking how pretty the different colors of the roses are. The roses represent what place a person gets in the contest. He admires all of the colors of the roses. Which shows that he really does not care about the contest. He will be happy receiving any rose. Stephen also starts to remember a song about wild roses in a green place.
When remembers the song about roses, he wonders if there is a green rose. Which can mean that he wants to be neutral. The war of the roses was between two English families, which is where they got the teams and the white and red roses. But, him wanting a green rose shows that he did not want to be a part of a side in the contest.
I chose Passage #9 because it stood out to me the most when I had read the chapter. His goal is to rush dressing and praying and jumping into bed before the gas would go out. Stephen seem to have this somewhat fear of the dark. I constantly think of moments when I was little, I would rush out of my basement the moment I turn the lights out. He seems to also have issues with his body. He was trembling as he undressed and put on his nightgown. This could be just him being self conscious with himself or this is referencing to body being related to sin because Stephen is a very god fearing boy. He prays and he repeats the four words "spare them to me!" I think what this means is he asks God to spare the sins of his relatives for his own. Once he rushes under the covers, he shakes and trembles, he mentions about how he won't go to hell when he dies and the shaking would stop. His bed, like heaven is some kind of haven to him from darkness. Joyce also repeats the words "cold" and "white", which are the words he uses to describe the covers. As I read those two words are reapeated, as well as shake,and dark. When Stephen thinks dark, he sees all these different settings that have that sort of trait. He also thinks of his elders, cloaks, paleness, death-wounds,and eyes. He's relating these subjects with his fears.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I originally planned to go into a deeper examination of the 'Christmas Dinner' scene, I looked over the options once again and decided on selection six. In this scene Stephen is caught between a rock and a hard place. No matter what he says or does he is ridiculed and called out for his wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteWells, the natural bully in the story, confronts Stephen on whether or not he kisses his mother before going to bed. During a first read through, it is obvious that either response from Stephen will be the wrong one. In the first case, when he admits to kissing his mother, the boys criticize him and treat him as a 'mommy's boy' or something of the like. Then again, when he changes his mind and proclaims that no, he does not, kiss his mother, he is laughed at in the same condescending tone.
This issue of never feeling right, and always doing something out of place seems to be a theme in Stephen's life, and therefor the book as a whole. No matter what Stephen's response is in the situationm he is not accepted. The same concept is portrayed at Christmas dinner as well. He does not know which answer, or idea, to believe in and he knows that either one will be wrong in someone's eyes.
From the beginning of the passage I see Stephen as the outsider. From the corner of the room we see, through Stephen's eyes almost, the other boys standing across the floor talking. From the way that Stephen is sitting in the corner of the playroom (child-like atmosphere) and the boys are standing in a powerful position speaking of things above Stephen's full understanding, it is clear that he feels younger and less influential in the situation. Then, when Wells confronts Stephen he doesn't just ask the question, but starts by saying: 'Tell us..' It is obvious from those first few words that the boys are planning on being entertained by whatever his answer may be. There is nothing Stephen has done to cause this confrontation, and nothing he can do to make it go away.
When Stephen admits to kissing his mother he 'blushed under their (the boys) eyes'. Joyce does not only state his blushing, but mentions that he is blushing under their eyes, showing that their eyes upon him, and their actions upon him, have trapped and embarrassed Stephen. When the boys laugh Stephen makes an attempt to laugh along although he does not know why they are laughing. His thoughts that Wells must know the correct answer because of his higher level classes portrays Stephens naivety.
The motif of heat is brought up again in this scene in both straightforward and more subtle ways. His body is hot as the boys laugh, but he also feels embarrassed and confused. These sensations of discomfort have been, and will most likely continue to be, displayed throughout the whole book. Even a few sentences later, the 'cold and slimy' water gives an example of another situation where Wells has made Stephen feel uncomfortable. For a few sentences Stephen continues to almost obsess over this discomfort and the different feelings (slimy, wet, cold, scummy) forced upon him by others.
Then his though process shifts back to the question of whether not he should kiss his mother before bed. When he couldn't see a clear answer he went even further to question why people 'do that with their two faces' and kiss in the first place. He hears the noise, 'kiss,' and I think he imagines kissing his mother goodnight. Her soft wet lips are in his memory and I feel (because of previous thoughts and feelings in other sections) he longs to be home. As Stephen continues to question I am reminded of other questions he faces. The situation can once again be compared to the religion question that occurs at Christmas Dinner. Stephen doesn't know what is right, feels uncomfortable, and doesn't understand the argument in the first place.