Anika's Coming-of-Age

During class the last few weeks, we have talked a lot about Stephen’s epiphanies at the end of each chapter. It seems that as each chapter ends, Stephen has some sort of breakthrough in his life. At the end of the first chapter, Stephen is finally celebrated by the fellows. All throughout the chapter he was on the outside and bullied by his peers but at the end he is finally one of them for a few seconds. In the second chapter, Stephen sleeps with a prostitute, a huge step in his personal life and probably a coming-of-age moment for him. At the end of the third chapter, Stephen finally goes to confession. Ever since he slept with the prostitute, he can think of nothing else and he feels guilty all the time. He is consumed by his sins. Stephen finally confesses at the end of Chapter 3 and he returns to a rigid religious life.  I thought most of these end of chapter climaxes were pretty life changing for Stephen. Therefore, I was surprised when I found out that the end of Chapter 4...

I miss Stephen from the first chapter. He was quirky and shy. I loved how curious he was and how his train of thought skipped from topic to topic. I sympathized with him when the other fellows at school bullied him. Throughout the first chapter, Stephen appears as somewhat of an innocent and obedient child. He cannot wait to go home to see his parents and he seems to listen to whatever his father tells him. When he gets sick and Wells come into his room to make sure Stephen is not going to tell on him, Stephen thinks to himself, “ His father had told him, whatever he did, never to peach on a fellow.” Even though Wells pushed him into some sort of sewage pool, Stephen takes his father’s advice and doesn’t “peach” on Wells. It appears that his father is an important and respected important in his life.   As I started reading chapter two, I was surprised by the shift in tone of the book. Stephen’s stream of consciousness was completely different. His thoughts were angry and sull...