Friday, May 7, 2010
Reverting Back to Joyce
I want to revert back to Joyce for a moment. As we have continued to discuss the class as a whole, and take a look at how all of these novels are interconnected I had a thought about Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist. The whole time we read Joyce I understood why it tied into the themes of the course but I felt that it stood out a little more than the others because it focused a lot more on religion Stephen is a rebel. In another class of mine we have been talking a lot about rebellion and it started me thinking about Joyce. Stephen fully throws himself into religion and does everything he is suppose to in order to be a devout Catholic. However, in the end, Stephen turns away from religion and realizes that the indulgence of sin is the only way to be an artist. I find it ironic that Joyce's story line is the same, but the complete opposite opinion as King Solomon in the bible. King Solomon turns from God and lives a life of complete sin, indulging in anything and everything he can. This is much like what Stephen does when he tries to train his body in order to think nothing but pure thoughts. But in the end King Solomon realizes that all the sin in the world is not as satisfactory as a life that devoted to God, the exact opposite as Stephen. I found it extremely ironic that Joyce is voices his opinions about religion and he does so by turning a well known biblical story around and using against the church. Of that doesn't tell you how he feels about the Catholic church Odontoceti know what does.
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That is a very interesting correlation. Dedalus has an issue with passion and connection. His stint with religious piety and throwing himself at his religion was both an attempt to connect culturally with his past and also an attempt to find real meaning in life. If we run with the Colonization argument, perhaps we can say that the disconnect with his enviroment and his culture that he feels is a result of loss of autonomy his people are afforded. Solomon's an interesting correlation because Solomon being the son of David, is the defacto herald of the Jewish people. For Solomon state, culture, and religion are rolled nicely into one, it would be fitting that Solomon would only reach his full potential after he thrusts off his sin and embraces his heritage. Equally so, but the opposite with Dedalus. When he thrusts off his heritage, and his culture, and his religion does he find himself filled with a passion he before was lacking. Cool point
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