It's called "self-discovery" for a reason...

            In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen struggles with friendship.  In his years at Clongowes, he doesn’t fit in very well with his peers.  Even when he becomes the hero of his school for telling on Father Dolan, his peers “broke away in all directions” after they had carried him in celebration.  He then states, “The cheers died away in the soft grey air.  He was alone” (60).  Stephen never mentions a best friend, and although he is not hated among his peers, he just doesn’t seem to fit in with them.  The same thing happened in his teenage years.  The only companionship he had were the prostitutes he visited.  After he confesses his sins, he turns to God.  Even God could not give him the love found in friendship. 

            However, Stephen needed this isolation to discover who he was as an individual. Stephen recognizes that there is a part of him that is on a different level than others around him.  He needed to work out the problems and questions he had with himself before he could create relationships with others. That is why his time at the university is the first time he has true friends.  Davin calls him “Stevie” and confides in him. He talks about the meaning of beauty with Lynch. Simple things such as this demonstrate that he has finally made friendships.  This could only happen after he discovered who he was.  He is not impacted by their opinions, but he can still have intelligent conversations with them and express his ideas.

The novel discusses Stephen’s growth as an individual and as an artist.  All of the separate sections connect in the last part to demonstrate how all of his experiences have created the individual he has become.  When Cranly asks Stephen about his point of view at the very end of Part 5, he says to him:

You have asked me what I would do and what I would not do.  I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do.  I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in the same mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use—silence, exile, and cunning.  (268)

This quotation perfectly explains Stephen’s newfound self understanding. It is the description of a poet, and an artist, in a nutshell. He will “no longer believe” in something because others do.  He wants to believe in it himself, from his own mind, using his own ideas. Just because his parents or his peers want him to love his home country or express his religion, he will not.  Instead, he chooses to express himself by creative expression.  The tone in this quotation is confident, which demonstrates a complete understanding of what he is stating. Stephen would never have said something so outspoken in the earlier parts of the novel. He has discovered his independent voice and is now using it in conversations with his friends (friends being something that are new in his life as well).  Expression is the most important aspect of his life now, and he knows exactly how to go about it. 

            A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was certainly not easy to get through, but I enjoyed the overall meaning of the work.  It was interesting to see how changes in voice and language can so effectively trace the growth of an individual.  The focus on the growth of a single character made it more interesting to follow and connect to. I don’t think I will be reading James Joyce again anytime soon, nor will I obtain an obsessive crush over him, but I’m glad to have had the experience of reading his work.    

Mirrors and Daffodils

217. “The Lipstick on the Mirror” by Tom Disch (pg 283)

            The poem uses the obvious allusion to “Snow White” by incorporating the magic mirror and the Evil Stepmother, or, as she is referred to in this poem, the “Wicked Queen”.  The allusion conveys the idea that the deed that the mirror and queen are committing together is one of evil and treachery, like in the classic story. However, the point of the allusion is not just to reference the story.  The mirror is also personified.  The mirror reports the reflection, or appearance, of the queen. The other women’s mirrors tell them that they should look exactly like the queen. The compact mirrors whisper to the women, “Crone, you’d seem chiseled of the same Parian/ With a milder soap, a better dentrifice. / Try these. Buy this. Inhale her fragrance” (13-15). This personification demonstrates how women depend on matching the reflection of other women, as well as the importance that women place on image. They listen to the reflection of someone else to feel beautiful. Another literary device used in this poem is the simile. One example is “In powders and vials the Wicked Queen’s/ Essence was suffused like a scentless gas/ Throughout her realm, democratizing/ Vanity” (29-32). Comparing the essence of the Queen to some sort of poisonous gas wonderfully illustrates the effect that the need to appear beautiful has on women: it makes them vain. It is inhaled inconspicuously, without a scent.

I enjoyed this poem because I believe it to be true. The poem is a social commentary against the vanity of women.  It highlights the ridiculousness of women’s obsession with image. Women will gladly reflect the image of a “queen,” just so that they can feel like they too are royal. I particularly enjoyed the ending.  Although all of the women in her “realm” were striving to appear exactly like her, the mirror still reports that the queen is the fairest of them all. This goes to show that wanting to appear as someone other than yourself gets you nowhere. Being an individual is much more important than reflecting the latest fashion.

295. “I wandered lonely as a cloud” by William Wordsworth (pg 343)

            The literary devices in the poem help illustrate how the simple things in life, such as the beauty of nature, can inspire and fill a heart with pleasure. The poem starts with the simile, “I wandered lonely as a cloud/ That floats on high o’er vales and hills” (1-2). Right away, the author is comparing himself to a part of nature. He also describes the abundance of golden daffodils as being “Continuous as the stars that shine” (7).  By comparing everything to nature, it demonstrates the idea that everything is connected to a part of nature. The author also uses personification to give life to aspects of nature. For example, he describes the daffodils as “tossing their heads in a sprightly dance” (12). He also personifies the waves, stating that “The waves beside them danced; but they outdid the sparkling waves in glee” (13-14). Through personification he creates a sort of competition between the dances of the waves and daffodils, coming to the conclusion that the daffodils had more glee. At the end of the poem, he personifies his heart, stating that it dances with the daffodils at the thought of the solitude in nature. The combination of similes and personification creates imagery.  It is very easy to visualize the golden daffodils on the bay, dancing beside the sparkling waves. All of this adds to the central idea that simple things in nature have the power to inspire and bring pleasure to an individual.

            I thought that the poem was full of great description.  The similes and personification created an imagery that was crystal clear, and I was able to see everything that Wordsworth was describing. It made me think about the true beauty behind nature. Something as simple as daffodils in the breeze has enough power to make anyone’s day a bit brighter. Above everything else, this poem made me miss summer and spring…. stupid snow.