A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of the earliest examples in English literature of a novel that makes extensive use of stream of consciousness, which is a narrative technique through which the author attempts to represent the fluid and eruptive nature of human thought. The narrative is anchored in the interior life of a character rather than from the perspective of an objective third-person narrator. Thus Joyce's novel does not begin:" Stephen Dedalus was born in February 1882 in Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest son of Simon Dedalus...". Nor does it proceed by clear and direct explanation of crucial stages in Stephen's story. There is no section beginning," When Stephen was six his parents decided to send him as a boarder to Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare...". Instead of such direct statements, the first section begins with the voice of Stephen's father telling a bedtime story and the second section begins

Through his development from boy to man, Stephen comes to see Ireland as a labyrinth; trapping her heroes and killing them. This idea began with the scene of Stephen's return from Clongowes for the Christmas holiday. The family, Mr. Casey, and aunt Dante are gathered around for the holiday feast when a political discussion about Parnell ensues. Mr. Dedalus laments that the Irish are "priest-ridden" while Dante calls Parnell a "traitor". Mr. Casey speaks of earlier betrayals of Ireland by the clergy, while Dante declares that the clergy are always right. Later in the novel, Stephen clashes with the submissive students in the appearance of the university because he refused to sign a petition for disarmament and universal peace. Furthermore, Stephen rejected Daven's claims of patriotism arguing that the Irish have never had a great leader whom they did not betray or abandon. For all this, Stephen begins to see Dublin as "filthy" with "its foul green puddles", and reaches a conclusion that if he ever wants to find his true identity; he had to fly free form here.

In Clongowes, Stephen encounters his first confrontation with the injustice of the Church. The college Jesuits, motivated by their fear of the Parnallites, harshly treated the students who were under their control. Father Donla's authority increased and he applied a very severe policy against all offenders. Consequently, careless students were subjected to pandying. Before this physical punishment, they had to receive a psychological one, for example, they should kneel before their classmates. It is so happened that Stephen was one of those who did not write the Latin homework. Eventhough Stephen had a very good excuse for not writing his homework, having his eyeglasses broken by one of his colleges, Father Dolan did not accept any excuse and so Stephen was punished like other careless students. Stephen became angry of the injustice exercised by Father Dolan. His anger culminated in rebellion against Father Dolan and decided to take the matter up to the Dean. In fact, Stephen's rebellion against Father Dolan is a clear evidence of what is yet to come; Stephen's rejection of the Church. Therefore, by the end of Chapter II, we witness Stephen's indulgence in the senses. Motivated by a strong sexual desire, Stephen "Wanted to sin with another of his kind, to force another being to sin with him and to exalt with her in sin". And that's what he did with a whore. This sin led to another and another until he reaches a stage where he becomes in a conflict between the spiritual and material life. And on a three-day religious retreat Stephen hears fiery sermons about sin, judgment, and hell. Deeply shaken, the young man resolves to rededicate himself to a life of Christian piety so he begins attending Mass every day, and humiliate himself in order to be a good pious Christian. However, Stephen's temporary sub

Some common words found in the essay are:
Christian Stephen's, Cold Warm, Father Dolan, Simon Dedalus, Chapter II, Clongowes Christmas, Furthermore Stephen, Daedalus Stephen, Wood College, Portrait Artist, father dolan, aunt dante, simon dedalus, clongowes wood college, boy stephen, mind protagonist, warm cold, story section, novel stephen, careless students, rebellion father dolan, son simon dedalus, portrait artist,
Approximate Word count = 1944
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)