Blog Post 1

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce focuses primarily on Stephen as he starts finding all the different shades of grey in his previously black-and-white life. This theme manifests in his actions, political views, and religion, to name a few examples. Personally, I find Stephen’s development in his relationships and social ability to be one of the most interesting parts of the book so far.

When we first meet Stephen at Clonglowes he is clearly very socially inept. He views other people as black and white, either being “mean” or “nice”. For example, Stephen frankly comments on multiple occasions that it was “not nice” of Wells to have pushed him into the sewage pile. He holds no contempt or anger and is simply aware of the meanness of the act. In addition, later Wells asks Stephen whether or not he kisses his mother before bedtime. Stephen says he does, and then he doesn’t, and finds both answers to be the wrong answer when the boys laugh and jeer each time. He finds himself very confused, unable to find the right answer if both the answers he gave were wrong. Again showing his black and white view of the world, Stephen cannot comprehend the idea that there are more complexities behind a simple yes or no question and his lack of understanding troubles him.

Sections later, when Stephen is at his new school, we see a severe development in his understanding of the shades of grey in people and social encounters. Stephen actually has friends at his new school. At Clonglowes the best he could hope for was being a part of the crowd. Whereas younger Stephen was very literal and serious, we see older Stephen actually joking around with his friends, showing that he has learned the shades of grey we know as sarcasm and humor. In addition, it seems Stephen doesn’t actually like his friends that much. Here we can see how he has learned to manipulate people into thinking he likes them in order to gain companionship, a skill he did not have at Clonglowes. Finally, Stephen now understands what to say and what not to say. In arguing about poetry, Stephen instantly recognizes his mistake when he says that Byron is the best poet. Contrast this understanding with younger Stephen’s fixation on the simplicity of the right answer and lack of comprehension of what lies between the lines. Younger Stephen would not have been able to understand why he shouldn’t just be honest and contribute his commentary to the conversation.

Overall, I can see Stephen’s coming of age most clearly in his development socially and increasing awareness of the complexities of people. I can also relate to his journey as I went from a young and awkward, far-too-quiet homeschooler to a high schooler who is fascinated by other people and social encounters and likes to say she understands both pretty well. I am very intrigued and interested in seeing how Stephen’s social aptitude develops as the book continues.