I just completed a reread of James Joyce’s Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Man. This book is the epitome of a Bildungsroman. It
is the story of the young Stephen Dedalus. This novel seems me to be a modernist
archetype and, in my opinion, a great work.
We get
a glimpse into Stephen’s mind from his earliest childhood. The novel follows
him through his adolescence and on through his early adulthood. Stephen is a
sensitive person, a thinker and something of a misfit. We see the protagonist’s
mind develop from a very early age. As he moves through his teenage years, though
surrounded by pious religious influences, Stephen begins to frequent prostitutes
and is wracked with guilt and a fear of divine punishment. Though he eventually
rediscovers his moral bearings, he later turns down an opportunity to join the priesthood
and begins an intellectual estrangement from both religion and nationalism. We also
see Stephan’s reaction to his early love as well as his contradictory and
complex feelings for her.
Stephen
is a budding intellectual and poet. Included in the narrative are pages and
pages of philosophical ruminations on aesthetics that include numerous references
to various artists, writers, and philosophers. I found these ponderings to be
interesting and worthwhile; however, such eccentricities will likely bore some
readers.
In
my opinion, Joyce has successfully captured the inner and outer workings of a
male adolescent’s mind here. I judge this success based partially upon experience
and partially upon observation. The accolades that this work has earned are
well deserved. There really is something special about Joyce’s portrayal of
Stephen’s inner being. From the language used to portray the workings of his mind
to the various stages of his youth to the way our protagonist reacts to the
outside world, there is something very realistic as well as aesthetically
pleasing here.
There
are actually many writing styles contained in this work, but much of the novel
is told in a stream of consciousness style. Other parts, perhaps reflecting the
way in which Stephen thinks at various times, are presented in more or less
straight prose but with no apostrophes to indicate dialogue. The text ranges from the simple to the
difficult and dense. This novel, from the writing to the plot structure, is
very unconventional, and folks looking for a story told in the traditional
style might find this disappointing.
Dream of the Goat - Fiends
One
can write volumes about this book. Instead of looking at general themes, I want
to mention one of several extraordinary passages. At one point in the narrative,
Steven is wracked with guilt and fear. He has been visiting prostitutes, yet he
is terrified of the description of hell and the punishment that he believes
awaits him as a result of his transgressions. This leads him to have a strange,
phantasmagoric dream described below.
"He saw.
A field of stiff weeds and thistles and
tufted nettle-bunches. Thick among the tufts of rank stiff growth lay battered
canisters and clots and coils of solid excrement. A faint marshlight struggling
upwards from all the ordure through the bristling grey-green weeds. An evil
smell, faint and foul as the light, curled upwards sluggishly out of the
canisters and from the stale crusted dung. Creatures were in the field: one, three,
six: creatures were moving in the field, hither and thither. Goatish creatures
with human faces, hornybrowed, lightly bearded and grey as India-rubber. The
malice of evil glittered in their hard eyes, as they moved hither and thither,
trailing their long tails behind them. A rictus of cruel malignity lit up
greyly their old bony faces. One was clasping about his ribs a torn flannel
waistcoat, another complained monotonously as his beard stuck in the tufted
weeds. Soft language issued from their spittleless lips as they swished in slow
circles round and round the field, winding hither and thither through the
weeds, dragging their long tails amid the rattling canisters. They moved in
slow circles, circling closer and closer to enclose, to enclose, soft language
issuing from their lips, their long swishing tails besmeared with stale shite,
thrusting upwards their terrific faces... Help! He flung the blankets from him
madly to free his face and neck. That was his hell. God had allowed him to see
the hell reserved for his sins: stinking, bestial, malignant, a hell of
lecherous goatish fiends. For him! For him! "
I
love the imagery contained in this passage. The goat-fiends seem to represent
satanic forces circling Stephen’s soul. Unsurprising, there are six of them, as
six is a number often associated with Satan and evil. The other obvious
symbolic aspect to the goat image is that of sexuality and lust, which is the
deadly sin that is plaguing Stephen. The
weeds and sharp plants as well as the horrible odor all add to the menacing and
pernicious atmosphere. I think that the reference to “soft language”
might be important. Perhaps this is an allusion to the tempting, pleasant and
alluring nature of sin.
I
must admit to a strange attraction to such horror filled passages. I tend to
like the description of grotesque scenes and creatures, especially when
portrayed so artistically, meaningfully and symbolically. The mood created by
the words here seems perfect. I also find the writing in this passage to be
very imaginative. Joyce has painted a brilliant picture of Stephen’s view on
sin that is drawing him into “stinking,
bestial, malignant” hell.
Finally,
I also find this passage particularly unusual in its unique depiction of hell. It actually contrasts with the more
conventional fire and suffering version presented by a priest earlier in the
narrative.
This
work is an all-time classic. I have not even scratched the surface above. The
portrayal of Stephen’s mind and his young years is magnificent in so many ways.
The dream described above is only a small sampling of that. By completing this
book, I have finished all of the preparation that I had planned for my next
project and I am now reading Ulysses.
