Motifs In A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

In the story of A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, several underlying motifs sometimes make up an almost subliminal, sometimes very obvious message of music, flight, and sin. These motifs are what I believe really make this story hard hitting and relatable for some of us.
Music is apparent in how Stephen turns things into little songs like at the very beginning when Dante is threatening him. He repeats it in a quick cute little tune. He also sang when he was dancing with his mother and later on when he says his prayers at moments when he is religious. This really shows his appreciation of language as a writer from early on by being able to twist the words in a very comfortable fashion maybe to make sense to him or maybe to have fun. Maybe even sometimes to annoy those who are talking to him. I do this very often myself so I feel like it could be either of those things because I sing words people say to help me remember and to pester. …show more content…
The story tells of of Daedalus building a labyrinth to house a minotaur that kills any who enter. Daedalus and his son Icarus escaped the king who had Daedalus make the labyrinth on wax wings he had made but Icarus flew too close to the sun thinking he was a god only to have melted his wings and died. Stephen wants to leave Ireland much like Daedalus and his son but must keep in mind that he has to balance the need for leaving with his ability to write. This is also funny because at the same time he represents Daedalus, Stephen also represents Icarus because he is very full of himself and ignorantly