max’s Reviews > A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man > Status Update
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i believe that this is difficult to parse purposefully bc joyce intends for you to feel like a child as he is when he writes there isnt distinction between his reality / what he believes & objective reality, hes bewildered by the world & its strange rules, you are meant to feel that too
opens w/ a story to emphasize the importance of art in his world. no explanation of the memory, only sensation
— 4 hours, 27 min ago
i believe that this is difficult to parse purposefully bc joyce intends for you to feel like a child as he is when he writes there isnt distinction between his reality / what he believes & objective reality, hes bewildered by the world & its strange rules, you are meant to feel that too
opens w/ a story to emphasize the importance of art in his world. no explanation of the memory, only sensation
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4 hours, 26 min ago
it’s obvious that when they’re all fighting at the table over politics, charles stewart parnell, catholic loyalty etc it’s a tool to depict a child’s fracturing trust in absolute authority as he learns that there is no one singular moral voice and that the world is starkly divided, authority figures disagree
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additionally, i found all the religious parts / parts regarding God to be very alluring. especially this specific excerpt:“God could do that. He tried to think what a big thought that must be but he could think only of God. God was God's name just as his name was Stephen. Dieu was the French for God and that was God's name too; and when anyone prayed to God and said Dieu then God knew at once that it was a French person that was praying. But though there were different names for God in all the different languages in the world and God understood what all the people who prayed said in their different languages still God remained always the same God and God's real name was God.”
its a great, striking depiction of a small child trying to understand the grand concept of “God” whilst only knowing names, language, and simple logic. his reasoning is incredible juvenile and sincere. the thought process is basically “God can do anything, wow, God can do anything”
it is a very big idea for a young child to grapple with. he cant wrap his head around it fully so he just goes with focusing on God’s title. like his name is stephen, God’s name is God. french people pray to God in french, and they call Him “Dieu”, so when french people pray, God knows theyre french, and knows they call upon Him no matter how they address Him.
a mind builds ideas from simple language + the information its afforded. he understands God as a word, a name, even a linguistic label, but he does not understand God as a theology. the tension between big ideas and a small mind is palpable— i suspect it will be a recurrent theme
