I don’t mean to write this as a dig at Catholicism or
religion in any way. I don’t think ill be saying anything offensive about it,
but if for some reason I say something that disturbs you please let me know. What
I will be discussing are the effects of social depravation and scare tactics on
naïve individuals (in this case a child/teenager) without an alternative
authoritative influence such as a parent’s guidance or a group of relatable
friends.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
establishes perfectly in the first chapter the stirring pot for Stephen’s decent
into self loathing and anxiety. Stephen is sent to a boarding school which
isolates him from his family in some of the most important years of his
development. Though the school he attended gave him few grievances, his peers bullied
him, and in these years of vital development, transformed Stephen into a
socially inept character. Because he was deprived of family influence, and
friendship with his peers, his religion is the only thing he can pull his
understanding of the world from. Since this occurred so early in his life, the
effects of this isolation remain and fester with him well into his teenage
years. Furthermore, because there is no alternate source that could explain the
complex and confusing lessons he is taught, he develops a bizarre understanding
of his faith and develops an obsession with sin and punishment.
(I think this interest may have
stemmed from his relationship with justice at Clongowes. In what we have read
so far, Stephen has a conscience preoccupied with the concept of sin and sinful
thoughts, however until chapter three he has not considered the punishment, or
justice for being sinful. The cyclic nature of the novel leads me to believe
that Stephen will soon enough have to face the justice associated with the crimes
he has committed against his faith.)
The
obsession starts to wear on Stephen’s conscience especially heavily during
chapter three when father Arnall describes the punishment he must endure for
the what he has done. In this moment the culmination of his social issues, his
feelings of guilt, and his pride in his knowledge clash to create some kind of totally
devastating vortex for Stephen. He has no friends to confide in, he has no
father to confide in, and he cannot possibly confess at his school!! He has all
of these feelings that he has internalized after years of being isolated from
the group that he can’t let them out when he really needs to. I believe that
with the involvement of his guardians or his peers (or even the men working at
his school who he has deemed inaccessible because of his status as the head of
the Virgin Mary committee) he would have had a much more secular approach to
life which could have prevented him from either committing his ultimate sins or
feeling such an overwhelming guilt. Would that make Stephen less special? Yeah.
Would that make the book less interesting? Yeah. But I think its important to
try to think about why Stephen sometimes seems so weird to us.
Also unrelated but related, I watched a 45-minute documentary
on Magdalene Asylums, which are orphanages for girls or “safe homes” for women
who have given birth before marriage. The sorts of terrible things discussed in
this documentary bring to light how central and controlling to society the
Catholic faith was in Ireland in the 1900s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWKuGqtWDow
That was a very insightful look at Daedalus's character. I also thought it was really cool that you included the youtube documentary!
ReplyDeleteI agree that is seemed as if Stephen was being bullied in the first chapter, and I agree that is seems like his social problems may have stemmed from that early trauma. I also think it is clear that he didn't quite realize that he was bullied, and in a way that made it worse. In the first chapter he seemed so innocent, and didn't seem to understand that he was being made fun of. I think the fact that he didn't realize that he was bullied may have actually made it worse for him, because it distanced him from everyone, not just the people that were hurting him. It could also be that his obsession over crime and punishment stemmed from a subconscious recognition that he was being treated unfairly, and a need to find justice.
ReplyDeleteIt totally makes sense that a lot of Stephen's weirdness later on stems from his time at Clongowes. I think some of it is intrinsic to his personality (the introversion) but I wonder how his life would've been different if he hadn't been the "runt"/had actual friends -- the other boys (what little we see of them) seem to be at least somewhat more socially adjusted (although of course some are bullies) even though they're being raised in the same atmosphere as Stephen.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how much one's childhood experiences are impactful in one's coming of age / state of mind throughout the rest of their life. For Stephen, his "specialness" in being alone and "the best" (sinner, writing, devotee, etc) makes him internalize his personal relationship with God and every *single* word coming out of the preachers mouth as words of God aimed directly at him. These experiences dramatically shape his actions and feelings toward religion and himself in relation to society.
ReplyDeleteI think also that by having meaningful relationships you develop a sense of humility and have the ability to understand that not everything is about yourself. Because Stephen was struggling to connect with other people, he was trapped in his own world where everything was about him and directed at him, whereas someone with more connections may have been able to deal with Stephen's anxieties in a healthier way.
DeleteYou bring up a good point. His situation as a child did seem to have a significant impact on him and his behavior, which made it interesting to see how he changed as he grew even older.
ReplyDeleteThis was a super interesting post, I agree with you that I think that the scare tactics used in Stephen's various schools certainly played a role in his odd behavior. However, I think it is also partially Stephen's own personality, but that in combination with strict Catholic rules certainly makes for an interesting combination.
ReplyDelete