Examine the major symbols in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to show their bearing on the novel’s theme.
Examine the
major symbols in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to show their bearing
on the novel’s theme.
Joyce
probes into the consciousness of his characters with a clever use of symbols.
Loyce makes an extensive use of symbols in his works. A proper understanding of
these symbols leads to a better understanding of the novel and arises
appreciation from the reader. C.G. Anderson in Christian Symbolism in a
Portrait addresses the complexity of Joyce’s symbolism, defining his symbols as
expressions of something invisible that deepen and expand meaning. Thus, in
order to clearly describe the hidden and the concealed, Joyce makes use of
symbols which in their turn also increase the expressiveness of his language.
The major symbols used in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man are birds and
flight, water, music, skulls and masks, and color. These are discussed as
follows:
Birds
and Flight:
Symbolism/ Imagery/Allegory
The
association of flight with Stephen’s experience stems from his affiliation with
Daedalus. As we mentioned elsewhere, Daedalus was known for creating wings of
feather and wax; this is the source of the "hawklike man" image that
pops up now and again. Stephen envisions his soul flying on metaphorical wings
of his own construction; like Daedalus, he must fly to escape what he perceives
to be his prison (Ireland), and the "nets" it casts to entrap him
(religion, language, nationality). The bird association also stretches to the
Egyptian god Thoth, mentioned once in Chapter Five by Stephen. Thoth, a
bird-headed deity, was the god of scribes – and by extension, writers.
