Otherness and Alienation in Joyce Essay Example for Free

Otherness and Alienation in Joyce Essay The striking feature of James Joyce’s hero in A Portrait of an Artist as a young Man and Dubliners is that of a detached observer of his fellow-beings and environment: home, religion and country. From a normal boy of Dublin he gradually emerges to be an artist of high sensibility who shuns the influences of social and religious order. The esthetic power of re-creating the world makes Stephen reject the order of the Jesuits. In the stories as well as the novel, the hero chooses the role of an artist in exile. The lack of social value framework makes the artist feel he has no function to play; he must practice his part in silence and in exile. Joyce raises the question of proper aesthetic attitude and develops art from egocentric lyrical to dramatic approach. He has portrayed human activities with complete aloofness, using dramatic method. His fictions have epiphany rather than the conventional suspense, well-contrived plot and action. James Joyce shows the growth of a highly sensitive artistic mind in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in an atmosphere dominated by conservative religion. His hero as a detached observer is very similar to Albert Camus’ protagonist in The Outsider, except for the fact that Stephen begins with religious faith and ends with his esthetics which is definitely a positive feature. From a normal boy of Dublin he gradually emerges to be an artist of high sensibility who shuns the influences of social and religious order. The esthetic power of re-creating the world makes Stephen reject the order of the Jesuits. In the stories as well as the novel, the hero chooses the role of an artist in exile. The lack of social value framework makes the artist feel he has no function to play; he must practice his part in silence and in exile. Joyce raises the question of proper esthetic attitude and develops art from egocentric lyrical to dramatic approach. He has portrayed human activities with complete aloofness, using dramatic method. His fictions have epiphany rather than the conventional suspense, well-contrived plot and action. Having been dissatisfied with the religious doctrines as inadequate, he goes on develop his esthetics which is, according to David Daiches : To look at the world with the eye of the artist who combines the naked sensibility and the pure aesthetic eye and be satisfied with the artist’s god-like power to re-create the world with words. It is this discovery that prompts Stephen’s rejection to join the order of the Jesuits. (Daiches. 199) The drab surroundings of Dublin and his sharp intelligence and excessive sensibility turn every experience into a conflict in Stephen’s soul – the religious versus the pagan, the struggle of the flesh versus the spirit. Joyce said, ‘I call the series Dubliners to betray the soul of that hemiplegia or paralysis which many consider a city. ’ (Beja. 16) The boy narrator of â€Å"Araby† finds the Dublin environment pretty dull (described in the first paragraph) and he tries to forget it by falling in love with his friend Mangan’s sister. He manages to suppress his obsession with the girl, but fails miserably to buy her a gift from the fair because of the insensibilities of the salespersons. At the end he is left with an excruciating depression which culminates in an epiphany: ‘Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger. ’(Dubliners. 33) It is the realization of the aloof artist who is disillusioned with the ways of the world. The insensitive behavior of the salespersons makes him disenchanted about the world. Another hero in â€Å"An Encounter† shows his isolation when he confesses that he has no sweethearts while Mahony and his friends have plenty. ‘I answered that I had none. He did not believe me and said he was sure I must have one. I was silent. ’ (Dubliners. 23) Stephen’s experience at the Jesuit school is a perpetual conflict with the environment as is evident: