The Purpose of Faith

            The beginning of Chapter IV shows Stephen’s new devotion to his faith. Every day, he performs his morning prayers before a holy image and attends mass. Stephen meticulously attempts to avoid sinning, wanting to atone for his previous sins in the previous chapter. In a way, Stephen has replaced his desire for physical sexual gratification with a new spiritual form of gratification, which as Phil has pointed out, may have a sexual undertone through the use of the word “ejaculation.” Instead of becoming physically aroused, Stephen uses his faith as his method of gratifying himself.

            However, it is possible that Stephen has changed only because he does not wish to go to Hell. No matter how often he prayed, he remained to have “zeal of prayer” and continues to worry if his actions atone for his past sins. The thought that his atonement will not earn him “no more than a drop of moisture” in the “infernal” drives him to follow his faith very rigorously.  He very mechanically performs self-mortification trying to bring his spirit closer to God.

            Stephen finally allows himself to accept the fact that God loves “his individual soul with divine love from all eternity.” It is also possible that Stephen is using God as a parental figure, acting like how a child would when they disobey their parents. They try to fix up their mistakes, attempting to gain forgiveness from their parents, ultimately knowing that they are still loved despite all their flaws.

            Stephen’s follows his new faith fanatically. Does he follow his faith in a selfish attempt to save his soul for the afterlife? Does he follow his faith because he finds comfort in God acting as a parental figure? Or is his faith a genuine faith which he follows devoutly?