Sunday, March 22, 2009
Epiphany
So far I agree with what everyone has said. I think that Stephen's rejection of religion and choice of art and its meaning beyond the physical world is an extremely important realization. However, I think that the most important realization of the chapter is that Stephen has to find his own voice and think his own thoughts, which is part of what being an artist is all about. "Why was he gazing upwards from the steps of the porch, hearing their shill twofold cry, watching their flight? For an augury of good or evil?...then there flew hither and thither shapeless thoughts from Swedenborg on the correspondence of birds to things of the intellect and of how the creatures of the air have their knowledge and know their times and reasons because they, unlike man, are in the order of their life and have not perverted that order by reason. And for ages men have gazed upward as he was gazing at birds in flight...A sense of fear of the unknown moved in the heart of his weariness, a fear of symbols and portents..." (202). While thinking about the birds, Stephen is realizing that he must find the higher order that he belongs to and that he must reach his full potential and flight. Further events cement this mentality such as Stephen's conversation with Cranly in which he tells his friend that he is strongly considering abandoning university, family, and friends for a more isolated life style in order to pursue his artistic desires. I think that the final transitional step in Stephen finding his own voice is the chapter's end in Stephen's journal entries, which are his voice directly, and something we have not seen yet in the book. At the very end of the book, Stephen has a vision which is yet another huge part of his epiphany about his higher order: "And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of the exultant and terrible youth" (228). These voices are calling to him to join them in another world, making Stephen realize that that is where he belongs.
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Interesting point that you bring up about finding his voice! I may be taking this in too literal of a manner, but I think Stephen finds his voice, and realizes who he really is, while talking to the dean on page 168. Prior to this, Stephen is far from being a very independent person, and, like others have said, lets others have an enormous influence on his decisions and feelings. Stephen and the dean later talk about funnels, but while the dean uses the word "funnel," Stephen knows it a "tundish," prompting a confused Stephen to ask "Is that called a funnel? Is it not tundish?" (168). The two spend nearly a page discussing the differences in the word they use. Finally, Stephen thinks that he "cannot speak or write these words without unrest of spirit" (169). I think that it is at this point that Stephen finally learns to accept his Irish heritage, and not try to use words that are not his. This is directly related to his other realization, which is that he has good ideas, and should not shy away from saying what he truly feels (by letting others impact his choices), because his ideas can really be important and meaningful. He ends the novel writing journal-like entries composed of mainly short sentences about how he feels.
ReplyDeleteYeah Sara, I also agree with you that Stephen’s epiphany was that he finally found his independence by choosing art. I think that this is definitely shown by how Stephen always refers to other people’s opinions though out the book, and then by the end is writing in journal form to show his own opinion (I actually liked reading the journals much better). I think that the scene with the birds is a very important scene, as most people mentioned, because it shows the process of him making a decision. “What birds were they? He stood on the steps of the library to look at them…He tried to count them before all their darting quivering bodies passed: Six, ten, eleven: and wondered were they odd or even in number…They were flying high and low but ever round and round in straight and curving and ever flyng from left to right, circling around a temple of air” (201-202). This quote is very representative for his decision process. Stephen wants to abandon university, family, and friends, and instead choose to confide in art. I don’t think Stephen ever really liked school and friends much anyway, because he had difficulty connecting with them; he found school to be boring. I think it was a needed realization for him, because he can stop relying on others now, and have more trust in himself.
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