Dedalus: The Myth, The Man...

James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was a very fulfilling read, despite the level of difficulty. While it was not a best selling romance novel (which I do not read, nor desire to) that my mother would read, if she actually read, it provided immense pleasure. The complexity made the novel beautiful. As a Bildungsroman, the content of the language matures. I really enjoyed the progression.

Stephen Dedalus. What can I say about him? Although he is not traditionally the hero that a reader wants to lift above his/her shoulders, he remains in a place of my heart. With an allusion to the Dedalus myth, Stephen strives for freedom and an escape. The novel leaves us wondering about his future, as he leaves Ireland. His struggle, although it may seem foreign, is very relatable (at least to me.) As a coming of age novel, one witnesses the struggle for discovering oneself and attaining individualism. Stephen must learn, essentially, to defy his peers, family, society, and Ireland in order to discover who he is.

I feel that if given the chance to meet Stephen, he and I would get along quite well. I understand the struggle within a person when there are certain expectations of others. I understand what it is like to be sent to church because it MUST be the right thing to do. I should most definitely be a Catholic. That is the rule (as long as I am in this house.) I did not punish myself as Stephen did, nor did I have a faith as strong as his, but I do struggle with that belief and disbelief. I also find Stephen's thoughts to be incredibly vivid and relevant. I, too, find myself turning things inward. As Stephen saw his sins multiply like a math problem, I have thoughts that work in similar ways. I also admire Stephen for his devotion to language, words, poetry, writing. I am a lover of language and, although I do not intend on making a career of it, would love to be an author. I feel that one writes to free oneself, and one becomes an author to free others. I appreciated Stephen's ultimate decision at the end of the novel-- to stick to his morals about communion, to leave Ireland, to pursue writing. It's Stephen's actions that inspire one to strive for one's dreams. I want to reach independence, freedom from the restraint of limiting situations and people. I want to build my wax wings and, if I fly too close to the sun, I will have a parachute just in case.