“Terror is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites with the secret cause…” (Joyce 199).Do we ask, what is love? Do we wonder, what is fear?
Joyce takes a step into modernism as he writes about Stephen, an man attempting to find himself, through overcoming obstacles, experiencing indulgence, and finally discovering his true question: what is my soul?
The reader experiences Joyce’s writing through a stream of consciousness style; instead of retelling Stephen’s emotions and thoughts, he causes the reader to live them. And so, we walk along with Stephen in his journey, stumbling alongside him as he travels, learns, and makes mistakes.
So what does he discover about love? I believe that it is foreign to him. He searches for the romantic love, even succumbing to the temptation of sex, but finally, he becomes afraid of the unknown. He fears fear itself, and as he runs, trying to avoid it, fear overcomes him until love falls into that which he does not know.
And finally, as an artist, Stephen discovers his need to take flight. To break this grip of fear, to embrace his soul, and hopefully, maybe along in the distant future, to love himself.
Theme: Neither fear nor love can be avoided.
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