Ok, so it feels like there's a lot to comment on regarding this past reading, because truthfully it seems like Stephen has epiphanies about a lot of different aspects in his life. To sum it all up, it seems that Stephen has finally chosen to abandon his religion (after his talk with Cranly and his last few journal entries.) In the very beginning of Chapter 5, I noticed that he seems completely disinterested with school: he makes comments about his boring physics lectures and the kids that he generally dislikes. Stephen seems to become enthralled in much more phylosophical topics, especially those regarding famous philosophers such as Aquinas and Aristotle. Stephen develops insightful theories about beauty and aesthetics, and is much more interested in carrying on about the "deeper" life questions instead things like politics and money. One scene that I found particularly interesting was when Cranly and Macann were trying to persuade Stephen to sign a political petition. The dialogue seemed to have the same kind of manner as the talking at the Christmas dinner table in Stephen's childhood. At the student hall, they are talking about the tsar and Marxism, and it seems incredibly confusing. As we talked before, this may be intentional- a way of showing that Stephen is much less interested in politics or problems in other countries and much more interested in his own personal freedom and independence. I'll finsh this REALLY long post with a quote that I thought definitely reflects Stephen's enlightenment.
"A phrase of Cornelius Agrippa flew through his mind...on the correspondence of birds to things of the intellect and of how the creatures of the air have their knowldge and know their times and seasons because they, unlike man, are in the order of their life and have not perverted that order by reason" (202.)
Any other comments or thoughts?
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I think that the scene when Stephen is talking about the birds is the scene of his epiphany (which is summed up by the quote you used). All along, Stephen wasnt sure about who he was or what side to chose as his family was always torn over issues. He always avoided chosing a path for himself by letting others do the talking and remaining quiet. Yet his way of dodging conflict made him become an ambiguous person--never able to identify who he was or what he wanted. But as he describes the birds, and their order and knowledge, he seems to come to the conclusion that he must chose his own distinct voice just as "...their darting quivering bodies [fly] clearly against the sky..." (201). He says "Their cry was shrill and clear and fine and falling like threads of silken light unwound from whirring spools" (202). Everything about the black birds is so concrete and so clear, and now his uncertainty will evolve into clarity. And now he will chose his path and wander out into the world. In his last thoughts, his turn away from religion, with which he was raised and came to love for a period of time, is revealed, "Then he was to go away? for they were birds ever going and coming, building ever an unlasting home under the eaves of men's houses and ever leaving the homes they had built to wander (202).
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