A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (chapter two and three)
Write an analysis of the passage you were given from chapter two or three. Be thoughtful. Be thorough. Be specific. Be resourceful. Be inquisitive. Take intellectual risks. Explore.(Due by pumpkin time Tuesday, November 8.)
Chapter 3(16) During this section of the priests speech he addresses the audience of the problem of being proud. He states how it was pride that made Lucifer stop serving god and fall from grace, and that this rebellious pride is a sin. It is sinful to puts ones self above the will of god, and this is why Adam an eve fell from grace, and brought suffering and death into the world. They put them selves first and broke gods one request, and damned the human race. The priest then goes on to say that committing a sin is not just going against god, but it is as bad as defile ling, and torturing Jesus himself, the man who died for are sins. He states that every impure thought is like a lance piercing the heart of Christ. How ever Joyce then flips the tone of the speech and tells every one that god wishes for you to be in heaven, and that all you need to do is accept god and repent for your sins. Joyce continues this tone, but makes god seem very possessive, constantly saying that you are his, and that you belong to him. The seen ends with every one repeating a pray, but Stephens guilt for his sins prevent him form talking aloud, so he prays along with them in his head.
Chapter 2 Section 20 This is the scene in which Stephen is wandering about the streets at night hungry for lust and he sees a prostitute. He goes to her room and eventually gives into his sexual cravings. In the beginning of the scene, the image of Mercedes crosses his mind. This commonly happens when he thinks of women. Weakness is often brought up in the book. "...he had then imagined at which weakness and timidity and inexperience were to fall from him." Darkness is also used repetitively with Joyce's descriptions; "dark slimy streets", "dark pressure", "dark presence", "darker than the swoon of sin", and "darkness". This whole section is about sinning, breaking him "from a hell of sufferers". Lastly, the final sentence sums up the entire section. "They pressed upon his brain as upon his lips as though they were the vehicle of a vague speech; and between them he felt an unknown and timid pressure, darker than the swoon of sin, softer than sound or odour." Overall, this section was very interesting. The age thing still bothers me though!
“The torment of fire is the greatest torment to which the tyrant has ever subjected his fellow creatures,” began the priest. Then, he compared earth’s fire to the fire of hell. “Moreover, our earthly fire destroys at the same time as it burns, so that the more intense it is the shorter is its duration; but the fire of hell has this property, that it preserves that which it burns, and, though it rages with incredible intensity, it rages for ever.” In other words, earth’s fire performs a favor by destroying as it burns, but hell’s fire does not perform favors at all – it preserves what it burns, dragging out torment even longer. The priest wanted his audience to understand that the fire burning on earth is miserable, but the fire in hell is worse. His message to the audience is earth is bad, so you do not want to go to hell, because hell is far worse.
The priest went on to say, “It is on record that the devil himself, when asked the question by a certain soldier, was obliged to confess that if a whole mountain were thrown into the burning ocean of hell it would be burned up in an instant like a piece of wax.” He was emphasizing how powerful hell’s fire is by saying that the fire will literally swallow you whole. The priest also described the tortured souls in hell. He said, “The blood seethes and boils in the veins, the brains are boiling in the skull, the heart in the breast glowing and bursting, the bowels a red-hot mass of burning pulp, the tender eyes flaming like molten balls.” By describing the souls using vivid, horrid details, the people in the audience can imagine what their soul would be like if they were to be cast into hell.
In the last paragraph of section 8, the priest emphasized just how superior God is. “It is a fire which proceeds directly from the ire of God, working not of its own activity but as an instrument of divine vengeance.” God manipulates the fire of hell to deliver vengeance to the tortured souls. God is so powerful that he can control what happens in hell, a place that is supposed to be Lucifer’s domain. The section ends with, “And through the several torments of the senses the immortal soul is tortured eternally in its very essence amid the leagues upon leagues of glowing fires kindled in the abyss by the offended majesty of the Omnipotent God and fanned into everlasting and ever increasing fury by the breath of the anger of the Godhead.” More reassurances by the priest that God controls everything, even the fires of hell. But one thing I find confusing is how the priest describes fire as God’s vengeance. Isn’t God supposed to be all-forgiving? At least that is what I learned in Sunday school.
This selection discusses the pain of conscience in hell. Joyce plays specifically off of the self-inflicted torture that stems from guilt. For Stephen, it is particularly relevant due to the evidence of internal conflict Joyce reveals to the reader through his gluttonous and sinful actions of the world in juxtaposition with the guilt and attachment he has to the supernatural or Catholic ideals. The priest(who is speaking) specifically lists the earthly pleasures Stephen himself has yielded to at the opening of the passage: "he who delighted in the pleasures of the table his gorgeous feasts...his hoard of gold...the impure...the unspeakable and filthy pleasures in which they delighted." He then continues with descriptions of exactly how futile such temporary joys are in their repercussions and haunting reminders once death occurs. It mirrors perfectly the disgust Stephen feels toward himself for his deeds and the deeds themselves, as well as his confusion over what he should do when faced with religion: repent or give up and surrender to desire. However, by the time the priest is finished scaring him with parallels to his life and the future that awaits him, his choice is clear. In class we have lightly touched on the prevalence of water throughout the novel, and this passage is no exception. Though the meat of the selection holds no direct references, there are pointed metaphors both at the very beginning and very end. These include, "lake of all-devouring flame," "flood all hell with your tears," and "sea of repentance." Though the first one does not specifically refer to water, the word lake does faintly suggest it. The irony of the passage is that purity can be consuming and destructive to a developing artist like Stephen, but it is also necessary to survive. Joyce's experimentation with the conflicting of body and soul throughout the entire quotation showcase Stephen's internal struggles and the difficulty of untangling his morals and desires.
This section alludes to the upcoming scene with the prostitute many times. As discussed in class, this is first done with Stephen’s demonstration of gluttony in his superfluous spending. Though exaggerated, Stephen says, when discussing how expensive a restaurant to eat at, “It doesn’t matter about the dearness.” This epitomizes his lack of caution and the extravagance of his new style of life, so to speak. In the upcoming scene with the prostitute, Stephen also lives gluttonously by visiting for the first time (and thus mortally sinning), and then returning again and again without a thought for his religion, mirroring the lack of planning he exhibits when using his prize money. Another part of the passage that I found to be significant was the transition from rapid spending to being penniless. The period in which Stephen bought everything ended very suddenly, and the climax resulted in a slow, steady, and unexciting transition back to daily life. This resembles his experience with the prostitute at the end of the chapter; in the moment, he feels a thrill and false sense of fullness that is unmatched elsewhere in his life. After the experience, he immediately returns to a feeling of emptiness and unfulfilled desires, as if he had never slept with the prostitute. A keen example of foreshadowing is Joyce’s use of tides and water. The water scene is the most important scene at the end of Chapter 3. In this case, it is used to describe his failed attempts at connecting with his family. A “breakwater of order and elegance”, the “sordid tide of life”, and water are important symbols woven into the chapters preceding the ocean scene. The scenes are starkly different, however; the first scene involves Stephen at a distance from those surrounding him while the second portrays Stephen becoming and finally being freer than he ever previously had been. However, both come at times critical for his development into an artist.
Chapter III [14] This scene was describing the “spiritual pain” of “extensions” and “intensity”, so naturally, there were many mentions of “spiritual”, “external”, “interior”, “exterior”, “evil”, and “hell”. The priest had described that that an evil deed on earth could be cancelled with another deed, but in hell, that rule does not exist, and instead, extends the list of evils of that person. I have heard that the pure essence of a human is their soul, and therefore, the spiritual spirit is more valuable than the physical one.The priest had mentioned a similar case and said that because the “spiritual faculty” is more sensitive, the “interior darkness” is far terrible than the “exterior darkness”.
The priest described the “pain of intensity” to be coexistent of “pain of extension”, and had said that because hell is the centre of all evil, it is more intense at the centre. He had said that there is nothing that can soften the blows of pain like the real world. Company, which is a sign of comfort transforms into torment; knowledge, is a sign of power that transforms into the scorned lower than those of the ignorant; while light, a sign of goodness transforms into something horrid. One cannot escape or succumb because everything piles up on them. “Boundless extensions of torment, incredible intensity of suffering, unceasing variety of torture” is the “divine” punishment for all sinners.
It is easy to say that Stephen can easily imagine himself in this hell, because he has continuously indulged himself to the temptations of “sins” (gluttony, lust). The trhee examples given relate to Stephen’s because he had gotten “company” from the prostitute, “knowledge” of indulging in such the previously mentioned action(s), and the “light” that he wishes he had not sight of.
To Stephen, “interior darkness” is far more terrible than “external darkness”, because one cannot truly know what lies amongst that “darkness”. The “external darkness” is easy to pinpoint because he has already been there, but even though the priests may describe these scenes how can they know the facts if they’ve never been there (But that is just how I feel, I don’t know for Stephen, because priests are thought to be “sinless”)?
This passage is about Stephen attempting to write a poem. Right from the beginning the passage displays both the influence of the jesuit school on him and his art, as well as areligious influences. He writes the initial letters of the jesuit motto at the top of the page (A.M.D.G.), but then titles the poem “To E— C—,” because, as it says, “He had seen similar titles in the collected poems of Lord Byron.” Byron comes up later in the chapter, where Stephen says that Byron is (in his opinion) the greatest poet. His other classmates violently disagree, saying that Byron is heathen (more or less), adding further contrast to this scene. While attempting to think of what to write, Stephen day dreams about trying to write a poem after the christmas dinner. He was trying to write a poem about Parnell on the back of one of his father's property notices. This shows a young Stephen trying to follow his father's example both in the direct example of admiring Parnell, and in a more symbolic way, with his handling of his father's property notices. Simultaneously it shows him distancing himself from his father, in that he is attempting to praise Parnell artistically, and is doing so on the back of the notice which is, in a way, a method of disrespecting it. And instead of writing a poem at all, he lists the names and addresses of some of his friends at the school. This is him locating others, similar to how he located himself earlier in the book. When Stephen does eventually write the poem it is vividly described, and seems to be about two lovers departing eachother's company. It is interesting that within the poem he uses the word “protagonists,” considering his status as a protagonist himself. He also closes the poem with L.D.S., which is another jesuit phrase. It's use is interesting here, as it closes a poem that is rather un-catholic.
This section portrays the scene of Father Arnall finishing off the speech about sinning and the torments in Hell. Although in this section of the chapter the Father goes to discuss the ultimate pain and suffering in the afterlife of a sinner opposed to just disembowelment and walls of fire. This pain is that of the lack of the Lord's light and love that he bestows to every human spirit, "poena damni. the pain of loss..." Father Arnall though, acts as Joyce's conduit for Father/Son issues. The Lord, in religious nature, is referred to by Arnell as the Holy Father, and the creator of all, all humans coming from God and belonging to Him, just like that of a real father, like Mr Dedalus. Stephen's main conflict at this point is internal issues one view perception of his father which can be projected to the conflict of sinning against the Lord. "Every breath that we draw, every thought of our brain, every instant of life proceeds from God's inexhaustible goodness..." How could the Lord be so good but then spurn those so extremely if they stray from his righteous path? How could Mr Dedalus act flirtatious with barmaids, drink too heavily, fight with his own family, all actions that cause Stephen's relationship with him to become strained and loveless if he is Stephen's father, a figure that is supposed to be loving and protective? This is Stephen's ultimate pain and torture, his own Hell on Earth.
Chapter 3 section 9 What I noticed in this section, besides Hell and sin, were points of no return and yielding. Many people were in the point of no return that were mention in this section. He talks about two groups, the people who sinned without asking for forgiveness and the devils that punish you in Hell. “Now the time for repentance is gone by. Time is, time was, but time shall be no more!” During this passage of the preacher's speech, he describes the judgment day for someone at the end of their life. That person did not repent and had ran out of time to fix it. At this point of the speech, the preacher liked to ask the “why?” questions. “Why did you sin?” and “Why did you not listen to the counsels of your confessors?” and my favorite, “Why did you not, even after you had fallen the first or the second or the third or the fourth or the hundredth time, repent of your evil ways...?” It makes it seem, or at least show, that the preacher does not understand why, even with the ultimate gift, people do not follow the rules and sin. Also, if they do sin, they have the ultimate fix and do not use it. The ultimate gift is heaven in the afterlife, and the ultimate fix is asking God for forgiveness. The other group that the preacher talks about is the devils. “These devils, who were once beautiful angels, have become as hideous and ugly as they once were beautiful.” The devils were once pure and wonderful angels but like common men they fell to sin and became devils. They reach the point of no return a long time ago. Now they enjoy the damn being tortured. Another major thing the preacher discussed was yielding. He gave an ultimatum, either yield to god and live forever in paradise or, yield to sin and being tortured in Hell for an eternity. Yielding is huge in this speech. For yielding to sin: “to indulge in sloth and pride... to yield to the promptings of your lower nature.” Which means that someone would yield to the temptations like lust and greed. For yielding to God: “Repent of your evil ways and turn to God...” and “Saint Catherine of Siena once saw a devil... she would prefer to walk until the end of her life along a track of red coals.” Which means that every one should ask for forgiveness or risks being tormented by horrible monsters.
This section, like the majority of the book, displays Joyce's literary styles in a clear manner. Externally, Stephen is walking home. On the inside however, Stephen struggles with himself and his emotions.
From the first sentence of the scene, Joyce's choice of wording surprises me. He mentions the laughter as 'light' making it sound carefree and positive. In the same line he describes Stephen's ear as burning when he hears the laughter. The two senses contradict eachother, and when examined closely, leave the reader feeling slightly confused. Thinking about it again I take it to mean that Stephen does not want to be so pleased by the sound of the laughter. In the sentence following, he goes on to feel more strongly about soft sounds, like the laugh, rather than obvious sources of pleasure. This makes me think that Stephen is attracted to the innocent aspects of people. This is interesting because of his awareness later in the passage that "his mind had... trampled upon her innocence!" In a way, this makes me feel that Stephen's imaginations about the girl have ruined what he liked about her in the first place. Not surprisingly though, this assertion too is contradicted because he appears more sexually attracted to her as the passage continues. However, as the passage does continue, the attraction shifts from vulgar and purely sexual to legitimate feelings.I wonder if this shift in the passage will remain consistent with Stephen's personality and emotions.
My bit of the chapter takes place after Stephen suffers through the chilling, intense, and traumatizing speech that Father Arnall imparts on his “brothers in Christ.” Stephen departs quickly from the church, and my scene is comprised of Stephen’s thoughts and emotions following this monumental event.
The first allusion to the fear that Stephen was clearly carrying with him after the speech is evident in the very first line of the passage. Joyce’s use of words like “shaking”, “scalp” “trembling” and “ghostly” are used to sufficiently show the reader what effects this speech had on Stephen. Joyce may also be trying to have you pity Stephen, therefore making closer ties to him emotionally, as to scare you in a sense. In the next line, Joyce uses an array of strange word choices, such as “overcoats” and “waterproofs” and describes their physical depiction in a dark way, comparing them to “gibbeted malefactors”, another way of saying asphyxiated criminals (according to Thesaurus.com). Joyce even goes one step further, describing these malefactors as “headless and dripping and shapeless.” This sentence seemed particularly strange to me, but might suggest something very dark about the corridor Stephen walks down to exit the church after being sufficiently traumatized into a sort of stupor. As Stephen walks, Joyce describes Stephen’s soul as feeling as if it was being “wrenched forth of the sheath of his body”. This symbol seems painful and extreme, which could be echoing the emotional suffering that Stephen is constantly enduring.
Joyce continues into another paragraph, noting a hugely frustrating problem, but just in passing. “He could not grip the floor with his feet a and sat heavily at his desk, opening one of his books at random and poring over it.” It seemed strange to me that Joyce mentions this lack of balance and control of Stephens lower extremities in such a nonchalant way, with no repetition or colorful imagery, as per usual, to support it with. As this paragraph progresses, a shift in writing style occurs. The previously long and detailed sentences switch to short and distinct bits of dialogue. After this stylistic change occurs, the text quickly converts back to elaborate depictions and descriptions, as Joyce hits you with chilling words such as “flesh” “shrank” and “ravenous tongues of flames”. This choice of words seemed a bit animalistic, which is appropriate as Father Arnall is talking about the depths of Hell. The stylistic shift begins to reoccur, which is a bit off-putting and hard to follow, particularly when Joyce goes from “Again a wave,” to “His brain was simmering and bubbling within the cracking tenement of the skull.” Joyce perhaps shifted his sentence structure to further exemplify certain parts of Stephen’s thought process.
This passage is really split up into two parts that completely confront one another. The second part to this passage is all about Stephen’s calmness and overwhelming relief that he will not be damned to internal Hell. This is proved through Joyce’s use of the words “weakly”, “spared”, “quiet of the classroom”, “silence” “tranquilly” and “lulled his aching soul.” As Stephen realizes that his repentance and God’s forgiveness has spared him, he becomes overjoyed with a new chance at life. The last line of the passage sums up the entirety of the purpose of this piece of text, “O Virgin Undefiled, save him for the gulf of death!”
Chapter 3 Section 11 This section is a small and quick break from Father Arnall’s terrifying description of Hell, torture and everything that would bring Stephen fear. The firs thing that struck me in the passage is “—All, God! All, all!—” This reminds me of one of Stephen’s first thoughts about God in the beginning of the book. Stephen is reasoning with himself on whether or not there is one universal God and if it is the same in every language. I think this meshes with his original thought because an “all God”, I believe, is similar to saying One God for all people. The second quote that struck me, not just in this passage but throughout chapters two and three, was the bird references. “He seemed to have laid an ear against the muscle of his own heart, feeling it close and quail, listening to the flutter of its ventricles.” This quote I think was carefully used by Joyce because, if taken out of context, can be used to describe birds (quail and flutter) When I associate birds with something, I connect them to flight and freedom. I think Joyce chose to use a lot of bird imagery to tie it back to Icarus flying too close to the Sun and to also relate it back to Stephen’s name, Dedalus. I think Stephen will encounter a struggle of trying to maintain his freedom and safety at the same time in the future.
In this passage, Stephen has mental breakdown as a result of his guilt and fear of death and what fate beholds him in the afterlife. He spends the narration confronting his own soul, and he finds that he can’t be safe even in his own room. Joyce emphasizes how close Stephen is about to break by relating what his soul is doing to what his body is doing. As his body approaches closer and closer to his room, with every step, his soul sigh and mounts with his feet. He opens the door, and can’t even feel safe escaping to his room. He has a strange feeling he is constantly being watched. He’s questioning himself, thinking it wasn’t really him committing these sins, but the devil tricking him.
Joyce takes the advantage of words and imagery in this passage as well, he uses words like cold, stiff, or damp a lot throughout the book in general. He uses those words to describe Stephen’s “hell” which Stephen claims God has shown him. Stephen sees a lot of unpleasant objects of nature like nettle branches or weeds, and he imagines smelling waste which had been described as something sinful once. The light in this imaginary world is faint, and marsh-like. He sees frightening creatures that are goat-like with human features, who look elderly and evil. Sometimes, the devil can be described in that kind of manner. As I had mentioned before, Stephen is very hesitant about moving into his room to confront his soul. It’s unfortunate that he feels no safety from being in his room , compared to closer toward the beginning. He’d climb into bed before his light would go out so he could feel protected, but this time when he buries himself under his covers, he sees his “fate” and he throws off his blankets to to breath and escape.
The Part of Chapter 2 were Stephen wins money for his essay and begins spending it on his family was great for exploring stephens relationship with his father. As Stephen becomes more educated and aware of the world around his he becomes more aware of his fathers failures. His father recognizes that Stephen is providing more for the family then he ever had and feels threatened and asserts himself more.
Chapter 3(16)
ReplyDeleteDuring this section of the priests speech he addresses the audience of the problem of being proud. He states how it was pride that made Lucifer stop serving god and fall from grace, and that this rebellious pride is a sin. It is sinful to puts ones self above the will of god, and this is why Adam an eve fell from grace, and brought suffering and death into the world. They put them selves first and broke gods one request, and damned the human race. The priest then goes on to say that committing a sin is not just going against god, but it is as bad as defile ling, and torturing Jesus himself, the man who died for are sins. He states that every impure thought is like a lance piercing the heart of Christ. How ever Joyce then flips the tone of the speech and tells every one that god wishes for you to be in heaven, and that all you need to do is accept god and repent for your sins. Joyce continues this tone, but makes god seem very possessive, constantly saying that you are his, and that you belong to him. The seen ends with every one repeating a pray, but Stephens guilt for his sins prevent him form talking aloud, so he prays along with them in his head.
Chapter 2 Section 20
ReplyDeleteThis is the scene in which Stephen is wandering about the streets at night hungry for lust and he sees a prostitute. He goes to her room and eventually gives into his sexual cravings. In the beginning of the scene, the image of Mercedes crosses his mind. This commonly happens when he thinks of women. Weakness is often brought up in the book. "...he had then imagined at which weakness and timidity and inexperience were to fall from him." Darkness is also used repetitively with Joyce's descriptions; "dark slimy streets", "dark pressure", "dark presence", "darker than the swoon of sin", and "darkness".
This whole section is about sinning, breaking him "from a hell of sufferers". Lastly, the final sentence sums up the entire section. "They pressed upon his brain as upon his lips as though they were the vehicle of a vague speech; and between them he felt an unknown and timid pressure, darker than the swoon of sin, softer than sound or odour."
Overall, this section was very interesting. The age thing still bothers me though!
Chapter 3, Section 8
ReplyDelete“The torment of fire is the greatest torment to which the tyrant has ever subjected his fellow creatures,” began the priest. Then, he compared earth’s fire to the fire of hell. “Moreover, our earthly fire destroys at the same time as it burns, so that the more intense it is the shorter is its duration; but the fire of hell has this property, that it preserves that which it burns, and, though it rages with incredible intensity, it rages for ever.” In other words, earth’s fire performs a favor by destroying as it burns, but hell’s fire does not perform favors at all – it preserves what it burns, dragging out torment even longer. The priest wanted his audience to understand that the fire burning on earth is miserable, but the fire in hell is worse. His message to the audience is earth is bad, so you do not want to go to hell, because hell is far worse.
The priest went on to say, “It is on record that the devil himself, when asked the question by a certain soldier, was obliged to confess that if a whole mountain were thrown into the burning ocean of hell it would be burned up in an instant like a piece of wax.” He was emphasizing how powerful hell’s fire is by saying that the fire will literally swallow you whole. The priest also described the tortured souls in hell. He said, “The blood seethes and boils in the veins, the brains are boiling in the skull, the heart in the breast glowing and bursting, the bowels a red-hot mass of burning pulp, the tender eyes flaming like molten balls.” By describing the souls using vivid, horrid details, the people in the audience can imagine what their soul would be like if they were to be cast into hell.
In the last paragraph of section 8, the priest emphasized just how superior God is. “It is a fire which proceeds directly from the ire of God, working not of its own activity but as an instrument of divine vengeance.” God manipulates the fire of hell to deliver vengeance to the tortured souls. God is so powerful that he can control what happens in hell, a place that is supposed to be Lucifer’s domain. The section ends with, “And through the several torments of the senses the immortal soul is tortured eternally in its very essence amid the leagues upon leagues of glowing fires kindled in the abyss by the offended majesty of the Omnipotent God and fanned into everlasting and ever increasing fury by the breath of the anger of the Godhead.” More reassurances by the priest that God controls everything, even the fires of hell. But one thing I find confusing is how the priest describes fire as God’s vengeance. Isn’t God supposed to be all-forgiving? At least that is what I learned in Sunday school.
Chapter 3 Section 13
ReplyDeleteThis selection discusses the pain of conscience in hell. Joyce plays specifically off of the self-inflicted torture that stems from guilt. For Stephen, it is particularly relevant due to the evidence of internal conflict Joyce reveals to the reader through his gluttonous and sinful actions of the world in juxtaposition with the guilt and attachment he has to the supernatural or Catholic ideals. The priest(who is speaking) specifically lists the earthly pleasures Stephen himself has yielded to at the opening of the passage: "he who delighted in the pleasures of the table his gorgeous feasts...his hoard of gold...the impure...the unspeakable and filthy pleasures in which they delighted." He then continues with descriptions of exactly how futile such temporary joys are in their repercussions and haunting reminders once death occurs. It mirrors perfectly the disgust Stephen feels toward himself for his deeds and the deeds themselves, as well as his confusion over what he should do when faced with religion: repent or give up and surrender to desire. However, by the time the priest is finished scaring him with parallels to his life and the future that awaits him, his choice is clear.
In class we have lightly touched on the prevalence of water throughout the novel, and this passage is no exception. Though the meat of the selection holds no direct references, there are pointed metaphors both at the very beginning and very end. These include, "lake of all-devouring flame," "flood all hell with your tears," and "sea of repentance." Though the first one does not specifically refer to water, the word lake does faintly suggest it. The irony of the passage is that purity can be consuming and destructive to a developing artist like Stephen, but it is also necessary to survive. Joyce's experimentation with the conflicting of body and soul throughout the entire quotation showcase Stephen's internal struggles and the difficulty of untangling his morals and desires.
Chapter II, Section 19
ReplyDeleteThis section alludes to the upcoming scene with the prostitute many times. As discussed in class, this is first done with Stephen’s demonstration of gluttony in his superfluous spending. Though exaggerated, Stephen says, when discussing how expensive a restaurant to eat at, “It doesn’t matter about the dearness.” This epitomizes his lack of caution and the extravagance of his new style of life, so to speak. In the upcoming scene with the prostitute, Stephen also lives gluttonously by visiting for the first time (and thus mortally sinning), and then returning again and again without a thought for his religion, mirroring the lack of planning he exhibits when using his prize money.
Another part of the passage that I found to be significant was the transition from rapid spending to being penniless. The period in which Stephen bought everything ended very suddenly, and the climax resulted in a slow, steady, and unexciting transition back to daily life. This resembles his experience with the prostitute at the end of the chapter; in the moment, he feels a thrill and false sense of fullness that is unmatched elsewhere in his life. After the experience, he immediately returns to a feeling of emptiness and unfulfilled desires, as if he had never slept with the prostitute.
A keen example of foreshadowing is Joyce’s use of tides and water. The water scene is the most important scene at the end of Chapter 3. In this case, it is used to describe his failed attempts at connecting with his family. A “breakwater of order and elegance”, the “sordid tide of life”, and water are important symbols woven into the chapters preceding the ocean scene. The scenes are starkly different, however; the first scene involves Stephen at a distance from those surrounding him while the second portrays Stephen becoming and finally being freer than he ever previously had been. However, both come at times critical for his development into an artist.
Chapter III [14]
ReplyDeleteThis scene was describing the “spiritual pain” of “extensions” and “intensity”, so naturally, there were many mentions of “spiritual”, “external”, “interior”, “exterior”, “evil”, and “hell”. The priest had described that that an evil deed on earth could be cancelled with another deed, but in hell, that rule does not exist, and instead, extends the list of evils of that person. I have heard that the pure essence of a human is their soul, and therefore, the spiritual spirit is more valuable than the physical one.The priest had mentioned a similar case and said that because the “spiritual faculty” is more sensitive, the “interior darkness” is far terrible than the “exterior darkness”.
The priest described the “pain of intensity” to be coexistent of “pain of extension”, and had said that because hell is the centre of all evil, it is more intense at the centre. He had said that there is nothing that can soften the blows of pain like the real world. Company, which is a sign of comfort transforms into torment; knowledge, is a sign of power that transforms into the scorned lower than those of the ignorant; while light, a sign of goodness transforms into something horrid. One cannot escape or succumb because everything piles up on them. “Boundless extensions of torment, incredible intensity of suffering, unceasing variety of torture” is the “divine” punishment for all sinners.
It is easy to say that Stephen can easily imagine himself in this hell, because he has continuously indulged himself to the temptations of “sins” (gluttony, lust). The trhee examples given relate to Stephen’s because he had gotten “company” from the prostitute, “knowledge” of indulging in such the previously mentioned action(s), and the “light” that he wishes he had not sight of.
To Stephen, “interior darkness” is far more terrible than “external darkness”, because one cannot truly know what lies amongst that “darkness”. The “external darkness” is easy to pinpoint because he has already been there, but even though the priests may describe these scenes how can they know the facts if they’ve never been there (But that is just how I feel, I don’t know for Stephen, because priests are thought to be “sinless”)?
Chapter 2 Section 7
ReplyDeleteThis passage is about Stephen attempting to write a poem. Right from the beginning the passage displays both the influence of the jesuit school on him and his art, as well as areligious influences. He writes the initial letters of the jesuit motto at the top of the page (A.M.D.G.), but then titles the poem “To E— C—,” because, as it says, “He had seen similar titles in the collected poems of Lord Byron.” Byron comes up later in the chapter, where Stephen says that Byron is (in his opinion) the greatest poet. His other classmates violently disagree, saying that Byron is heathen (more or less), adding further contrast to this scene.
While attempting to think of what to write, Stephen day dreams about trying to write a poem after the christmas dinner. He was trying to write a poem about Parnell on the back of one of his father's property notices. This shows a young Stephen trying to follow his father's example both in the direct example of admiring Parnell, and in a more symbolic way, with his handling of his father's property notices. Simultaneously it shows him distancing himself from his father, in that he is attempting to praise Parnell artistically, and is doing so on the back of the notice which is, in a way, a method of disrespecting it. And instead of writing a poem at all, he lists the names and addresses of some of his friends at the school. This is him locating others, similar to how he located himself earlier in the book.
When Stephen does eventually write the poem it is vividly described, and seems to be about two lovers departing eachother's company. It is interesting that within the poem he uses the word “protagonists,” considering his status as a protagonist himself. He also closes the poem with L.D.S., which is another jesuit phrase. It's use is interesting here, as it closes a poem that is rather un-catholic.
Chapter 3 Section 12
ReplyDeleteThis section portrays the scene of Father Arnall finishing off the speech about sinning and the torments in Hell. Although in this section of the chapter the Father goes to discuss the ultimate pain and suffering in the afterlife of a sinner opposed to just disembowelment and walls of fire. This pain is that of the lack of the Lord's light and love that he bestows to every human spirit, "poena damni. the pain of loss..." Father Arnall though, acts as Joyce's conduit for Father/Son issues. The Lord, in religious nature, is referred to by Arnell as the Holy Father, and the creator of all, all humans coming from God and belonging to Him, just like that of a real father, like Mr Dedalus. Stephen's main conflict at this point is internal issues one view perception of his father which can be projected to the conflict of sinning against the Lord. "Every breath that we draw, every thought of our brain, every instant of life proceeds from God's inexhaustible goodness..." How could the Lord be so good but then spurn those so extremely if they stray from his righteous path? How could Mr Dedalus act flirtatious with barmaids, drink too heavily, fight with his own family, all actions that cause Stephen's relationship with him to become strained and loveless if he is Stephen's father, a figure that is supposed to be loving and protective? This is Stephen's ultimate pain and torture, his own Hell on Earth.
Chapter 3 section 9
ReplyDeleteWhat I noticed in this section, besides Hell and sin, were points of no return and yielding.
Many people were in the point of no return that were mention in this section. He talks about two groups, the people who sinned without asking for forgiveness and the devils that punish you in Hell. “Now the time for repentance is gone by. Time is, time was, but time shall be no more!” During this passage of the preacher's speech, he describes the judgment day for someone at the end of their life. That person did not repent and had ran out of time to fix it. At this point of the speech, the preacher liked to ask the “why?” questions. “Why did you sin?” and “Why did you not listen to the counsels of your confessors?” and my favorite, “Why did you not, even after you had fallen the first or the second or the third or the fourth or the hundredth time, repent of your evil ways...?” It makes it seem, or at least show, that the preacher does not understand why, even with the ultimate gift, people do not follow the rules and sin. Also, if they do sin, they have the ultimate fix and do not use it. The ultimate gift is heaven in the afterlife, and the ultimate fix is asking God for forgiveness.
The other group that the preacher talks about is the devils. “These devils, who were once beautiful angels, have become as hideous and ugly as they once were beautiful.” The devils were once pure and wonderful angels but like common men they fell to sin and became devils. They reach the point of no return a long time ago. Now they enjoy the damn being tortured.
Another major thing the preacher discussed was yielding. He gave an ultimatum, either yield to god and live forever in paradise or, yield to sin and being tortured in Hell for an eternity. Yielding is huge in this speech. For yielding to sin: “to indulge in sloth and pride... to yield to the promptings of your lower nature.” Which means that someone would yield to the temptations like lust and greed. For yielding to God: “Repent of your evil ways and turn to God...” and “Saint Catherine of Siena once saw a devil... she would prefer to walk until the end of her life along a track of red coals.” Which means that every one should ask for forgiveness or risks being tormented by horrible monsters.
CHAPTER 3: SECTION 5
ReplyDeleteThis section, like the majority of the book, displays Joyce's literary styles in a clear manner. Externally, Stephen is walking home. On the inside however, Stephen struggles with himself and his emotions.
From the first sentence of the scene, Joyce's choice of wording surprises me. He mentions the laughter as 'light' making it sound carefree and positive. In the same line he describes Stephen's ear as burning when he hears the laughter. The two senses contradict eachother, and when examined closely, leave the reader feeling slightly confused. Thinking about it again I take it to mean that Stephen does not want to be so pleased by the sound of the laughter. In the sentence following, he goes on to feel more strongly about soft sounds, like the laugh, rather than obvious sources of pleasure. This makes me think that Stephen is attracted to the innocent aspects of people. This is interesting because of his awareness later in the passage that "his mind had... trampled upon her innocence!" In a way, this makes me feel that Stephen's imaginations about the girl have ruined what he liked about her in the first place. Not surprisingly though, this assertion too is contradicted because he appears more sexually attracted to her as the passage continues. However, as the passage does continue, the attraction shifts from vulgar and purely sexual to legitimate feelings.I wonder if this shift in the passage will remain consistent with Stephen's personality and emotions.
Chapter III [10]
ReplyDeleteMy bit of the chapter takes place after Stephen suffers through the chilling, intense, and traumatizing speech that Father Arnall imparts on his “brothers in Christ.” Stephen departs quickly from the church, and my scene is comprised of Stephen’s thoughts and emotions following this monumental event.
The first allusion to the fear that Stephen was clearly carrying with him after the speech is evident in the very first line of the passage. Joyce’s use of words like “shaking”, “scalp” “trembling” and “ghostly” are used to sufficiently show the reader what effects this speech had on Stephen. Joyce may also be trying to have you pity Stephen, therefore making closer ties to him emotionally, as to scare you in a sense. In the next line, Joyce uses an array of strange word choices, such as “overcoats” and “waterproofs” and describes their physical depiction in a dark way, comparing them to “gibbeted malefactors”, another way of saying asphyxiated criminals (according to Thesaurus.com). Joyce even goes one step further, describing these malefactors as “headless and dripping and shapeless.” This sentence seemed particularly strange to me, but might suggest something very dark about the corridor Stephen walks down to exit the church after being sufficiently traumatized into a sort of stupor. As Stephen walks, Joyce describes Stephen’s soul as feeling as if it was being “wrenched forth of the sheath of his body”. This symbol seems painful and extreme, which could be echoing the emotional suffering that Stephen is constantly enduring.
Joyce continues into another paragraph, noting a hugely frustrating problem, but just in passing. “He could not grip the floor with his feet a and sat heavily at his desk, opening one of his books at random and poring over it.” It seemed strange to me that Joyce mentions this lack of balance and control of Stephens lower extremities in such a nonchalant way, with no repetition or colorful imagery, as per usual, to support it with. As this paragraph progresses, a shift in writing style occurs. The previously long and detailed sentences switch to short and distinct bits of dialogue. After this stylistic change occurs, the text quickly converts back to elaborate depictions and descriptions, as Joyce hits you with chilling words such as “flesh” “shrank” and “ravenous tongues of flames”. This choice of words seemed a bit animalistic, which is appropriate as Father Arnall is talking about the depths of Hell. The stylistic shift begins to reoccur, which is a bit off-putting and hard to follow, particularly when Joyce goes from “Again a wave,” to “His brain was simmering and bubbling within the cracking tenement of the skull.” Joyce perhaps shifted his sentence structure to further exemplify certain parts of Stephen’s thought process.
This passage is really split up into two parts that completely confront one another. The second part to this passage is all about Stephen’s calmness and overwhelming relief that he will not be damned to internal Hell. This is proved through Joyce’s use of the words “weakly”, “spared”, “quiet of the classroom”, “silence” “tranquilly” and “lulled his aching soul.” As Stephen realizes that his repentance and God’s forgiveness has spared him, he becomes overjoyed with a new chance at life. The last line of the passage sums up the entirety of the purpose of this piece of text, “O Virgin Undefiled, save him for the gulf of death!”
Chapter 3 Section 11
ReplyDeleteThis section is a small and quick break from Father Arnall’s terrifying description of Hell, torture and everything that would bring Stephen fear. The firs thing that struck me in the passage is “—All, God! All, all!—” This reminds me of one of Stephen’s first thoughts about God in the beginning of the book. Stephen is reasoning with himself on whether or not there is one universal God and if it is the same in every language. I think this meshes with his original thought because an “all God”, I believe, is similar to saying One God for all people. The second quote that struck me, not just in this passage but throughout chapters two and three, was the bird references. “He seemed to have laid an ear against the muscle of his own heart, feeling it close and quail, listening to the flutter of its ventricles.” This quote I think was carefully used by Joyce because, if taken out of context, can be used to describe birds (quail and flutter) When I associate birds with something, I connect them to flight and freedom. I think Joyce chose to use a lot of bird imagery to tie it back to Icarus flying too close to the Sun and to also relate it back to Stephen’s name, Dedalus. I think Stephen will encounter a struggle of trying to maintain his freedom and safety at the same time in the future.
Chapter 3 (17)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Stephen has mental breakdown as a result of his guilt and fear of death and what fate beholds him in the afterlife. He spends the narration confronting his own soul, and he finds that he can’t be safe even in his own room. Joyce emphasizes how close Stephen is about to break by relating what his soul is doing to what his body is doing. As his body approaches closer and closer to his room, with every step, his soul sigh and mounts with his feet. He opens the door, and can’t even feel safe escaping to his room. He has a strange feeling he is constantly being watched. He’s questioning himself, thinking it wasn’t really him committing these sins, but the devil tricking him.
Joyce takes the advantage of words and imagery in this passage as well, he uses words like cold, stiff, or damp a lot throughout the book in general. He uses those words to describe Stephen’s “hell” which Stephen claims God has shown him. Stephen sees a lot of unpleasant objects of nature like nettle branches or weeds, and he imagines smelling waste which had been described as something sinful once. The light in this imaginary world is faint, and marsh-like. He sees frightening creatures that are goat-like with human features, who look elderly and evil. Sometimes, the devil can be described in that kind of manner.
As I had mentioned before, Stephen is very hesitant about moving into his room to confront his soul. It’s unfortunate that he feels no safety from being in his room , compared to closer toward the beginning. He’d climb into bed before his light would go out so he could feel protected, but this time when he buries himself under his covers, he sees his “fate” and he throws off his blankets to to breath and escape.
The Part of Chapter 2 were Stephen wins money for his essay and begins spending it on his family was great for exploring stephens relationship with his father. As Stephen becomes more educated and aware of the world around his he becomes more aware of his fathers failures. His father recognizes that Stephen is providing more for the family then he ever had and feels threatened and asserts himself more.
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