Stephen Dedalus: Religion

Stephen Dedalus: Religion


        Religion is an important and recurring theme in James Joyce's A Portrait

of the Artist as a Young Man.  Through his experiences with religion, Stephen

Dedalus both matures and progressively becomes more individualistic as he grows.

Though reared in a Catholic school, several key events lead Stephen to throw off

the yoke of conformity and choose his own life, the life of an artist.

        Religion is central to the life of Stephen Dedalus the child. He was

reared in a strict, if not harmonious, Catholic family. The severity of his

parents, trying to raise him to be a good Catholic man, is evidenced by

statements such as,  "Pull out his eyes/ Apologise/ Apologise/ Pull out his

eyes." This strict conformity shapes Stephen's life early in boarding school.

Even as he is following the precepts of his Catholic school, however, a

disillusionment becomes evident in his thoughts. The priests, originally above

criticism or doubt in Stephen's mind, become symbols of intolerance. Chief to

these thoughts is Father Dolan, whose statements such as, "Lazy little schemer.

I see schemer in your face," exemplify the type of attitude Stephen begins to

associate with his Catholic teachers. By the end of Chapter One, Stephen's

individualism and lack of tolerance for disrespect become evident when he

complains to the rector about the actions of Father Dolan.  His confused

attitude is clearly displayed by the end of the chapter when he says, "He was

happy and free: but he would not be anyway proud with Father Dolan. He would be

very kind and obedient: and he wished that he could do something kind for him to

show him that he was not proud." Stephen still has respect for his priests, but

he has lost his blind sense of acceptance.

        As Stephen grows, he slowly but inexorably distances himself from

religion. His life becomes one concerned with pleasing his friends and family.

However, as he matures he begins to feel lost and hopeless, stating, "He saw

clearly too his own futile isolation. He had not gone one step nearer the lives

he had sought to approach nor bridged the restless shame and rancor that divided

him from mother and brother and sister." It is this very sense of isolation and

loneliness that leads to Stephen's encounter with the prostitute, where, "He

wanted to sin with another of his kind, to force another being to sin with him

and to exult with her in sin." He wants to be loved, but the nearest thing he

can find is prostitution. In the aftermath of this encounter and the numerous

subsequent encounters,  a feeling of guilt and even more pronounced loneliness

begins to invade Stephen's being. Chapter Three represents the turning point of

the novel, for here Stephen turns his life around. After the sermon on sin and

hell, Stephen examines his soul and sees the shape it is in, wondering, "Why was

he kneeling there like a child saying his evening prayers? To be alone with his

soul, to examine his conscience, to meet his sins face to face, to recall their

times and manners and circumstances, to weep over them." Religion pushes its way

suddenly and unexpectedly back into Stephen's life. After his confession at the

end of Chapter Three, he begins to lead a life nearly as devout as that of his

Jesuit teachers and mentors. Even as he leads this life, however,
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