While I was reading A Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man, I saw the recurring theme of religion as a big, and complicated part in Stephen’s life. I’ve thought for a while now that Stephen’s faith in the first half on the book, even during his extremely devout stages, is fueled not by religious devotion but by fear (of going to hell). The first mention of this I saw in the book would have to be at Clongowes right before he goes to bed. He said he had to,”.. undress and then kneel and say his own prayers and be in bed before the gas was lowered so that he might not go to hell.” I interpreted this passage as Stephen feeling as though he must do this because his teachers have scared him into believing. I mean, at this point, Stephen is a little kid, and I bet that if you tell a six-year old about how he should behave and that he might go to hell, it would obviously frighten them. Even when he prays you can tell that it’s not genuine, and “from the heart” per se, but more like repeating something absent-mindedly.
Another scene further on in the book that I think that ties in nicely with this is the incredibly intense, graphic, and terrifying sermon and the confession following it. Dedalus feels so impacted by the sermon, so much so that he even threw up. He felt as though the sermon had been directed towards him and repents and ends his sinful ways rather abruptly. The chapter ends with Stephen sighing in relief that his soul is being saved. We also have talked about Stephen wanting things for all the wrong reasons, and I think this is an example of this. I mean, of course we see that he highly regrets his actions, but I feel that a bigger part of him having repented was just to know that he was safe from going to hell, almost protecting himself. He does this for himself and not as much for the whole religiously deeper meaning of, “I changed to please God and to be able to do God’s bidding.” And also, when he is acting pious after his confession, he goes overboard, and I perceived this as him doing it just trying to please God, and kind of make the argument that he still feels bad about his sins, so he is still worth saving, and doesn’t have to go to hell.
This was just my interpretation of Stephen’s take on religion in the first part of the book. As he gets older, particularly towards the end of the book, his views become more complex, but earlier on in the book this idea was something that really caught my attention. The way Joyce described it seemed quite personal, and one of the things that I think Joyce wanted to say with this was that being forced into believing eventually unconsciously pushed him away from the religion.
I agree, Stephen definitely was TERRIFIED of going to hell and i think that is for sure one reason why he tried to act pious. I think that as a child he was told that he had to have a strong connection with the church, he was somewhat pressured. But as he got older and was debating between being an artist and going with the church, he realized this and kinda somewhat decided that he didn't need to be pious to fit in (because ultimately he never fitted in in the first place, he didn't even want to fit in).
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you about Stephen's piety being fear-driven. I think his binary way of thinking probably contributed to and was magnified by this fear of hell. He either completely indulges in sin and feels bad about it, or goes completely the other way and sniffs urine, among other "pious" habits -- but still wonders if he has done enough to redeem himself. There's a section where Stephen talks about helping others find God or redeem themselves or something, and he imagines a cash register in heaven. Not something I would imagine most devout people visualize in that situation.
ReplyDeleteReligion was certainly a major factor affecting Stephen's decision making. Stephen's standpoint regarding religion was certainly more than just blind devotion or rejection of faith at the very end. In the first half, Stephen was more or less just accepting, rejecting or ignoring religion, and I certainly think this changed towards the end of the novel
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, and I think it's not really Stephen's fault. If you look at the type of thinking that his education seems to promote, it's fear based, not love or faith based really. From Dante's terrifying rhyme about eye-picking to the sermon you mentioned, we see that religious morality is enforced through fear. It's especially interesting because Stephen does what he thinks is right outside of a religious context on his own. He makes art because he likes art and thinks it's good (at least late in the book) and he refuses to go to communion more or less on principle (though it may be related to his need to feel like an individual). I think the fact that Stephen needs that fear indicates that he doesn't really believe in a lot of what the church is teaching.
ReplyDeleteThis is an important background to keep in mind when contemplating Stephen's self-styled "heroic" exile--from his church and his nation--at the end of the book. His foundational ideas about the Catholic faith are grounded in fear, going all the way back to the "eagles will pull out his eyes" stuff in that first section. So when Stephen claims not to disbelieve in God but simply to be unwilling to submit his sovereign will to any higher authority (a rather satanic position indeed), it's important to understand the huge risk he thinks he's taking. It's not that he no longer believes in the reality of hell; he's just willing to risk it.
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