Being a coming-of-age novel, we can clearly see the development of Stephen as a character and as a human being. In particular, I want to point out the transition of Stephen from an innocent child just trying to understand the world into a brooding edge-lord.
In the first chapter, one of Stephen's defining traits as a character is that he is an outcast. He watches the fellows play rugby, and even when he himself is participating, he still avoids the ball and only observes. The same can be seen when he interacts with the older kids; he has no idea what's going on when they ask him questions such as the classic "What does your dad do because my dad could totally beat up your dad," or the good old "Do you kiss your mom" mind-game which only a regular Sun-Tzu could think of. In the second chapter I find it cool that Stephen has embraced this trait not as a flaw in his personality, but rather a defining trait he is proud of. During the party he sits in the corner observing the other kids of his age, but rather than feeling left out or confused, he feels a sense of belonging in being alone since he views all the other kids as young children compared to him. This is where my admiration for him begins to waiver, and I start to cringe.
Stephen really needs to chill. It seems that he is projecting negative feelings onto people because they reject him, which I would describe as the "Fine I didn't want to anyway" mentality. He is ostracized by his peers, so he forces himself to believe that he doesn't want to be included, acting as if his isolation was by choice. For example: the person that isn't included by their peers so they say "Fine you are guys are dumb I didn't want to be included anyway," or the person that condemns parties as a waste of time because they aren't invited. Because of this I start to question if this is real development in Stephen's personality; Is it a genuine change progressing him through his coming-of-age journey, or rather is it just a defense mechanism for him to deal with his isolation?
First of all, your title made me laugh out loud. Secondly, this is a great post. I've been wondering the same thing - can we really consider Stephen's unsettling maturity a true aspect of his personality? Or is it merely a mechanism developed out of necessity? Does it matter?
ReplyDeleteExactly! I feel like Stephen acts like he's okay with being alone and not being apart of the crowd but he honestly acts that way because no one gives him any attention. So in order to compensate for the lack of attention, he acts different from everyone, hoping that he'll get attention. Clearly, that hasn't been working out too well for him.
ReplyDeleteI find interesting the transition from the triumphant Stephen being hoisted up by the fellows, and being the lone figure of the hill, which is maybe a more genuine feeling of belonging in his solitude, to the more arrogant and aloof Stephen. What happened to change him like that?
ReplyDeleteI feel like this attitude can also be seen in the way Stephen acts towards Emma towards the end of the book. Once he gets the slightest indication that Emma is into people that aren't him, Stephen decides that as an artist he doesn't need a romantic partner because they would just hold him back.
ReplyDeleteI think you've accurately summed up Stephen's mentality through much of the novel. He wants to be the aloof, mysterious anti-hero off in the distance. Stephen comes off as really arrogant and annoying because of this, but I think it's brave of Joyce to portray himself this way. I'm sure most people have had phases they regret. How would you like for yours to be in a well-known novel?
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