The given passage from the bildungsroman novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, is written by James Joyce. The extract appears towards the end of the novel, after the priest spoke to Stephen about becoming a priest and living a clerical life and before Stephan receives an epiphany from a girl wading in the sea. In this extract we witness how Stephen devotes the rest of his life to one of artistic expression. This is relevant to Joyce’s Aristotelian approach to art. This approach indicates the general manner in which our actions lies in the dominance of reason. This reflects your personal virtues and how they determine your souls end destination. In the extract Stephen, who has previously offered up a life of sin for a life of piety,
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Like Daedalus he needs to escape all the artistic restraints that are restraining him from becoming a great artist. The “noise of the dim waves"(p. 208) refers to Stephens calling to freedom. During his daydream he imagines “a hawk-like man flying sunward above the sea” (p. 209). This metaphor drawn from his name’s origin indicates that he envisions himself as an artist who is able to create art out of everyday experiences. He views his name as a prophecy and he makes a vow to flee from cultural and religious restrictions and to fly towards a future of artistic freedom. His poetic vision created by his friends when they address him as “Stephanos Dedalous” (p. 208) makes him realise that his destiny as an artist lies in his namesake and the experience of leaving his adolescence behind to enter the adult …show more content…
The omniscient narrator in the novel is effective as the reader is able to see the world and experiences through Stephen conscious even though the narrator is not Stephen himself. Joyce’s writing technique the stream-of-consciousness has a unique use of imagery. “His heart trembled; his breath came faster and a wild spirit passed over his limbs as though he was soaring sunward.”(p.209) this technique is affective as it contributes to Stephens’s artistic development. The imagery used creates a thematic harmony which allows the reader to identify the symbolic meanings in Joyce’s
Like Daedalus he needs to escape all the artistic restraints that are restraining him from becoming a great artist. The “noise of the dim waves"(p. 208) refers to Stephens calling to freedom. During his daydream he imagines “a hawk-like man flying sunward above the sea” (p. 209). This metaphor drawn from his name’s origin indicates that he envisions himself as an artist who is able to create art out of everyday experiences. He views his name as a prophecy and he makes a vow to flee from cultural and religious restrictions and to fly towards a future of artistic freedom. His poetic vision created by his friends when they address him as “Stephanos Dedalous” (p. 208) makes him realise that his destiny as an artist lies in his namesake and the experience of leaving his adolescence behind to enter the adult …show more content…
The omniscient narrator in the novel is effective as the reader is able to see the world and experiences through Stephen conscious even though the narrator is not Stephen himself. Joyce’s writing technique the stream-of-consciousness has a unique use of imagery. “His heart trembled; his breath came faster and a wild spirit passed over his limbs as though he was soaring sunward.”(p.209) this technique is affective as it contributes to Stephens’s artistic development. The imagery used creates a thematic harmony which allows the reader to identify the symbolic meanings in Joyce’s