If I didn't make it clear enough through discussions in class, I dislike Stephen. While it may be a tad bit unjust to have such strong feelings against him, I can't help it. Especially as the book progresses. In the beginning of the book, Stephen is a questioning, innocent kid, and its all very wholesome and I felt pretty positively about him. Where it starts going wrong is when Stephen leaves Clongos. This period of Stephen being in Dublin is constantly described as moody, with Stephen repeatedly saying he is "restless". It's at this point where Stephen starts to "come of age", particularly too fast for my tastes.
One disconnect that I feel while reading the book is that Stephen's thought process has almost no correlation with his actual age. Especially during Stephen's first engagement with a prostitute. This could be due to Joyce narrating over Stephen's life, which explains the sophisticated vocabulary and descriptions. However, I feel that the extremity to which Stephen's brooding nature and self-martyrdom go is unnecessary (extra, if you will). It's this extra-ness that I dislike dealing with, both in books and in person. However, the real question is: Is Joyce's narration the cause of this extra-ness?
Truthfully, I think as someone who has siblings, our experience makes it easier to dislike Stephen. Stephen takes on the stereotypical "I'm the edgy teenager" vibe which I also view as quite cringe-worthy. We do need to keep in mind that he's the oldest of all his siblings and comes from a religious background. Stephen tries to find outlets to avoid conflicts with religion, and he's somewhat pressured to be more mature.
ReplyDeleteThere's some merit to your point about narration, but the narration is meant to show Stephen's "extra" mannerisms. Without Joyce's descriptions we're probably left with boring descriptions of scenes (ex. a nervous boy on the tram, or an aloof son with his talkative father). So, I don't think Joyce's narration is the cause of this extra-ness but instead shows just how extra Stephen is.
I totally agree with you. Stephen at the beginning was this sweet innocent little boy, and you felt bad for him. But now, as he's starting to "come of age", his thought process have become extremely egotistical and extra. His whole "I think I'm better than everyone else" demeanor really ticks me off.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Stephen once he got older annoyed me a little too. Although, to me Joyce's narration didn't make Stephen seem more extra but, rather, poked fun at Stephen's behavior. I had mixed feelings about the disconnect between Stephen's age and his thoughts. On one hand, Stephen's more mature thoughts, and especially his use of language, solidified his status as a possible literary genius. On the other hand, I found it hard to relate with Stephen because of the disconnect between his age and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteStephen's character also annoyed me. I really liked Stephen in the first chapter but his moodiness in the rest of the book was too much. I think maybe one of the reasons Stephen seems so mature is because he has had to adapt to a lot of changes in his life. His family is having money problems so they have to move and he's going to a new school. Plus the fact that he's somewhat of an artistic genius may explain his sophisticated language. This is a lot for a young teenager to deal with and maybe it's caused him to grow up faster than normal.
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