A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Theme/symbol analysis:

One of the major themes that is conveyed throughout James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, is Stephen’s deep longing for freedom.  Stephen feels as though he is oppressed both religiously and with his nationality and it becomes obvious that he is anxious to free himself through symbolism in the book.  The theme of desire for freedom is best displayed in its connection to the symbol, which is birds and flight, and Stephen alludes to this many times in Joyce’s work.  The fact that Stephen has an acute awareness of birds in the sky and shares his thoughts on the topic of flight, only confirms that they represent his desperate want for freedom.

            Stephen’s last name Dedalus’s “seemed to him a prophecy” (p 183), and validates the theme of flight carried continuously in the novel because his last name is a symbol which comes from the Greek myth character Daedalus, who built a pair of wings made of feathers and wax in order to escape from prison. As the Greek mythology goes, Daedalus was sent to work for King Minos after committing a crime and there he was oppressed, forced to do work he had no desire to do, and he was eventually imprisoned by the King for revealing information.  Daedalus’s story is symbolic to Stephen’s because both men constantly feel they are forced and compelled to do what others tell and want them to do.  As one quote states, “prophecies and symbols, a hawk-like man flying sunward above the sea, a prophecy of the end he had been born to serve and had been following through the mists of childhood and boyhood” (183).  Just as Daedalus was forced to work for King Minos and do as he said, Stephen’s family constantly put pressure on him to meet religious, social, and political standards.  In a sense, Daedalus’s story runs parallel to Stephen’s because Daedalus is literally imprisoned while Stephen feels imprisoned by lacking of inner strength, self-worth, and has child like emotions concerning his obligations to his faith and family.  In the end of these two men’s stories, they both find the means to escape.  Coincidently, Daedalus turns to escape by literally flying away and Stephen’s inspiration is found through the freedom of birds and flight, which are both the light at the end of the tunnel that finally sets Stephen free.

            Another example that illustrates how birds and flight are symbolic to Stephen’s life and yearning for freedom is when he notices a bird in the sky and the author writes, “His heart trembled in an ecstasy of fear and his soul was in flight. His throat ached with a desire to cry aloud, the cry of a hawk or eagle on high…An instant of wild flight had delivered him” (183-184).  This specific passage is symbolic to Stephen because it illustrates him finding his soul and finally coming to complete realization of his life, which in connection allows Stephen to be “free” at last.  The sight of the bird in the sky reminded Stephen that he has control over his own life, that it is acceptable to be the man he wants be, and that he can finally be at peace with himself and seek the freedom he had desperately been in search of.

           

Quote analysis:

            One of my personal favorite quotes is “You made me confess the fears that I have.  But I will tell you also what I do not fear.  I do not fear to be alone or to be spurned for another or to leave whatever I have to leave. And I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too” (269).  This quotes represents Stephen at the most balanced part of his life, and him finally coming to acceptance.  During the course of the novel, Stephen had struggled with himself on many different levels concerning his religion, women, social life, and his actions.  He was incredibly hard on himself in the majority of the book and he felt everything he did was a sin, but this quote is the pinnacle in his life where he finally realized that it is acceptable to make mistakes and that instead of beating himself over those mistakes, take them for what they are and learn from them.  As part of the quotes states, “you made me confess the fears that I have”, and this demonstrates how in the greater part of the book he would only concern himself with what he feared. These fears consisted of being alone and not being accepted by others, but this quotes also illustrates him not being afraid anymore “to be alone or to be spurned for another.”  Overall, this quotation is a perfect explanation and illustration of Stephen’s personal discovery and the balance he finally finds in his life; that it is suitable to make mistakes, follow his own heart, and allowing himself to find comfort in being alone in a positive fashion.   

Thoughts/reflection:

            My reaction to James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was that it was more complex and a difficult style of reading that I have ever experienced before in my life.  James Joyce forced me, as the reader, to bush beyond the boundaries of the book and look deeper into the words written on the pages.  Joyce’s character Stephen seemed so out of the ordinary at a first glance but as the book progressed, I realized that what appeared to be strange about Stephen was in fact normal. He was simply a common boy who went through the same struggles with himself that the majority of people go through as well.  My overall reflection on this book was that I surprisingly enjoyed it despite the struggles that I had trying to interpret the meaning behind the text.  After a closer analysis of Stephen’s character, I was able to understand him, and then in response I was able to better comprehend and appreciate the work as a whole.

The Death of a Soldier (page 410)

The poem The Death of a Soldier is deceiving in form with its short stanzas and lines, but a profound meaning lies behind what is seen.  “Life contracts and death is expected, as in a season of autumn. The soldier falls.”  This opening stanza is using metaphor to compare the death of a soldier nonchalantly to the changing of the seasons, without any emotion, as if it is normal.  The line “as in a season of autumn” is repeated in the poem completely taking away any emotion or feeling behind the death of the soldier.  The second time this line is mentioned is in stanza three when stated “death is absolute and without memorial, as in a season of autumn.”  The use of repetition is expressing the fact that autumn is being compared to death and this makes the loss of this soldier impersonal, and the narrator is saying this will happen as naturally as summer turning to autumn, and autumn turning to winter. Metaphor is also used at the end of the poem when the narrator says “when the wind stops and, over the heavens, the clouds go, nevertheless, in their direction.” In this last stanza, the author of the poem is using metaphor to close the poem saying that just as the clouds move along in the sky so does the death of a person on earth.  The winds may have stopped, and the soldier may be dead, but all will continue to move on without hesitation.

            My personal reflection of this poem is that it was written to show how a human life could be lost without any remorse or regard. This Unknown Soldier has left earth as simply as the seasons change and a cloud passing by in the sky.  The soldier is not mourned or celebrated and the fact that his life seems to be forgotten is disturbing.  Line four claims, “He does not become a three-day personage,” meaning his death will not be even mentioned, and he will go unnoticed, unseen, unidentified.  Despite how short the poem is, the meaning behind the words of the author is deeply saddening and make me question just how often situations as this soldier’s occur.    

I wandered lonely as a cloud (page 422-423)

The title of the poem, I wandered lonely as a cloud, is a perfect example of a major literary device that is sporadically illustrated throughout the verses. “Lonely as a cloud” is not only a simile, but can also be considered to be personification.  The title itself suggests that a cloud is being given human characteristics by being described as wandering “lonely.”  Personification and metaphor also appear in lines three to six such as “when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils; beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”  Here these lines are personifying daffodils to people by describing them as “a crowd” and “dancing in the breeze.” The use of personification and metaphor in the first verse is to give the idea that the poem is not just about a cloud and nature but that there is truly a deeper meaning behind the given context.  The poem is clearly not about a wandering cloud but about a person who is enjoying life’s beauty, pleasures, and on a journey to explore. 

            In addition to personification, simile, and metaphor being common literary devices in the poem, imagery is also a main component.  Descriptive images of nature run throughout the entire poem giving it an easy free-spiritive theme.  The second stanza lines seven to ten paints a perfect example of imagery with descriptions such as “continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way, they stretch in never-ending line along the margin of a bay.” Although imagery is respected in its own use, in this specific poem imagery is created through the metaphors and personification written throughout.  When reading the line at the end of the second stanza “ten thousand saw I at a glance, tossing their heads in sprightly dance” a clear picture is set in one’s mind of a midnight sky plentiful of twinkling stars, but this is formed through the use of personifying the stars by saying they tossed “their heads in sprightly dance.”  Stars cannot actually toss their heads back being that they do not have one, but this creates a playful tone and formulates imagery to help the reader envision what the narrator is seeing. He wants us to see that there is a mass amount of daffodils all along the shore and because of the vast amount; it reminds the man of stars in the Milky Way. The poem is very much shaped on the premises of metaphor, personification, and imagery, all working hand-in-hand as one.

            In my personal interpretation of I wandered lonely as a cloud, I feel it is simply about one man showing appreciation of nature and its company.  The man in the poem is a poet and he may steam inspiration through the use of nature, being that he has such an acute awareness of everything around him and in line fifteen it states, “A poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company.”  The poem is also conveying that sometimes the best company is nature, “which is the bliss of solitude.”  The poet confirms that being alone in only the presence of the environment makes him content and his “heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.”  While most overlook the simplicity of what is outside your door, this one man, this one poet has come to enjoy and love the pure beauty that Mother Nature has graced the world with.