Stream of Characterization

An overload of thought

 

      Joyce's stream of consciousness writing style in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man allows him allows him to pack small sections of writing full of valuable characterization of Stephen. Stephen's interaction with Wells on page 12 serves as a particularly good example of this. First, when Wells asks him not to snitch, Stephen immediately recalls his father's words never to preach (tattle) on anyone, and "felt glad" when he said that he wouldn't (12). In just a two lines of Stephen's thoughts Joyce reveals his great respect for his father, as he recalls his fathers teaching words right away and is happy and proud that he acts upon them. Stephen proceeds to see right through Wells' meaningless apology and "the face and voice went away" (12). This seems to imply that at times the face goes away but the voice does not, that Wells haunts young Stephen's mind even without being physically near him, as Joyce once again gives the reader deep insight into his character with just a few short words. Finally, after noting that Wells is only sorry because he is afraid it might be some disease, Steven's stream of consciousness brings him to spit out the fact that "canker was a disease of plants and cancer one of animals: or another different" (12). This thought demonstrates how prevalent the boys schooling and memorization of facts is in their lives, as he subconsciously spits out this tidbit of knowledge simply upon thinking of the word disease. This also begins to suggest that perhaps Stephen does not think the facts are all that important, as he finishes the thought with a dismissive "or another different" (12).
        So, clearly through the use of stream of consciousness narration and Stephen's wandering mind, Joyce is able to pack a lot of characterization into a small number of lines. One question we might ask ourselves is whether Joyce means to depict the typical wandering human mind through Stephen's consciousness, or whether Stephen’s ever changing thoughts are meant to set him apart as not just a wandering mind but perhaps someone who lacks the ability to focus and may even have something along the lines of Attention Deficit Disorder?