Thursday, April 8, 2010
Stephen's light at the end of the tunnel
Throughout many of the novels, we have seen the characters go through life making important decisions. Tambu made the decision of whether to go back home or not; Stephen leaves as well. Nwoye became fond of religion which is the opposite for Stephen. Each of the characters we have read interlard with one another. In the last chapter the theme of being trapped in "life" is strong as well as escaping, we see the Dedalus flying away out of Ireland. Stephen fits the character of being an individual. The life of a priest was not for him and learning has provided him much intellect but still cannot help his family. Just like Tambu who was seen as the sacrifice to help her family wants to go on to more endeavors in life; Stephen feels the need to help them in my opinion yet still likes the individualistic path. Just like many of the characters he deals with race. His idea of using race is to help the Irish race through use of his writing. Joyce really does live up to his mythological and religious name of his alter ego.
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This is great obsevaiton. I agree that Stephen is an individualistic character and I think we see that from the very first scene in the book when he says he will marry a protestant all the way through the end of the book when he leaves. It is important to point out that this is why he leaves Ireland not just because he has to. While that may be part of the reason the largest part is Stephen's sense of self and autonomy. I think that autonomy is natural to Stephen and is suppressed by fear of sin and rejection of peers. It is interesting that with these somewhat negative experiences, Stephen still does care for others and that is a great example of how he governs his life and his feelings. I think this book like many that we have read is a coming of age tale and about the development of an identity in a confused world. Great point.
ReplyDeletesorry for the typos
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think it's strange that Stephen and other colonial heroes think the best way to help their people is by leaving them in some way or going some place they can't follow. In The Book of Not and Nervous Conditions there is the idea that education helps you provide for your family but makes you somehow different and removed from your family as well. Even in novels like Soyinka we can see the conflict playing out in characters like his father, whose position as the headmaster sometimes puts him in a tough spot in dealing with the demands of his fellow villagers.
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