One part of the novel that really struck me was the stream of consciousness style of writing. Not only was it an interesting an different style than I am used to (I will get into that more in the reaction section) but it is easy to observe Stephen's growth into an artist, and his maturation in his use of language and words. First of all through this stream of consciousness style of writing Stephen's maturation in language is very distinct; comparing one line from the first page, "his father told him that story: his father looked at him through a glass: he had a hairy face" (Joyce 3) to a line from the back of the book, "the soft beauty of the Latin words touched with an enchanting touch the dark of the evening, with a touch fainter and more persuading than the touch of music or of a woman's hand" (Joyce 265). It is clear and evident through stream of consciousness that his diction has expanded to more complex words, and his syntax has also become more complex, the sentences are longer and more dynamic. The comparison of these two sentences display his development into the artist that he is at the end of the novel; the first sentence is short, and is mostly just observable facts, while the second sentence at the end of the novel is much more than observable facts. It compares the Latin words that Cranly said to music and a woman's hand. Stephen incorporates personification into this sentence and gives the sound of the words a human quality, the ability to touch. Through words Stephen has the ability to create a painting of sound. Through the story Stephen has come to realize the beauty of words and their meaning, often thinking about the connotation and denotation of different words. Through stream of consciousness Joyce shows Stephen's development into an artist through Stephen's changing diction and his ability to create illustrations with words.
"And for ages men had gazed upward upward as he was gazing at birds in flight. The colonnade above him made him think vaguely of an ancient temple and the ashplant on which he leaned wearily of the curved stick of an augur. A sense of fear of the unknown moved in the heart of his weariness, a fear of symbols and portents, of the hawklike man whose name he bore soaring out of his captivity on osierwoven wings, of Thoth, the god of writers, writing with a reed upon a tablet and bearing on his narrow ibis head the cusped moon" (Joyce 244).
In this quote Stephen ponders over his choice to become an artist, he knows that it may not be the easiest or safest thing to choose, this is shown through the allusion to Daedalus, the artist in Greek Mythology, he created wings to fly out of the labyrinth that he and his son were confined to as a punishment. Daedalus arrived safely on land but his son, Iacrus, flew too close to the sun and fell to his death. Stephen realizes that he can have the same fate as Icarus. He is also comparing the colonnade to an old temple and alluding to a group of Romans that interpret omens for guidence. This also shows that Stephen is nervous of his future and how it will turn out. The mention of flight and birds, however, shows that Stephen is ready to take that leap, or flight, of faith and become the artist that he wants to be. That he is ready to move on a become his own person and escape the snares of the soceity, become the artist instead of the priest, just like Daedalus escaped from the labyrinth.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was very interesting. I liked the plot of the story, Stephen growing up and realizing his individuality; but the stream of conscousness, though very interesting, was very confusing, and throughout the whole novel I found it difficult to read. I barely understood what I was reading because it took me so long to read one page. I do really want to have a better understanding of this novel because it is such an amazing novel, and it is exceptionallly well written. It was just so hard to comprehend because of the style of writing and the unfamiliar words that Joyce uses. I don't hate this book but it wasn't my favorite either. I might, later in my life reread it, but I don't think that will be relatively soon.
