An Analysis Of The Initiation Theme In A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

James Joyce is the most influential novelist in the 20th century and he is world-renowned for creative writing techniques. He stimulates a large number of other writers for generations. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is Joyce's first full-length novel. Although it is not his representative work, it is still very prominent among all his works. All of his writing themes, including artistic techniques, are reflected in this novel. The great value of thought and artistic creation brings Joyce literal honor, which helps Joyce gain the foremost place in English literary history.A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is an autobiographical novel, which is a real reflection of Joyce's life. The characteristics of Bildungsroman are fully presented in many aspects from the perspective of Bildungsroman. This thesis intends to analyze the protagonist Stephen's process of initiation in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with relative Bildungsroman theories, and discusses the reflection of initiation features as well. This thesis not only helps people understand more about Joyce's novel from a new angle, but also encourages them to know Bildungsroman theories profoundly.This thesis comprises three parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. The first part is introduction, which presents a brief introduction about Joyce and his works, the status of the topic, the purpose as well as the realistic meaning of this study. Joyce is one of the most prominent writers in Ireland of the 20th century and his works as well as his concept of self-consciousness have a great impact upon other writers. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is his first important long novel, which describes closely the psychological initiation process of the young artist Stephen from a baby to an adult. An analysis of his initiation makes readers know more clearly the developing patterns of people's characters, and also evokes people's great attention to adolescents'healthy initiation, which may help the young accomplish the natural transition from teenagers to adults.The body consists of three chapters.The first chapter introduces the theoretical basis of the thesis. A brief introduction of classical Initiation Story as well as its development in England is presented in this part. After making a conclusion, Initiation Story discusses the initiation of one person or several people to reflect the psychological changes from innocence to maturity. This type of novel processes some basic features—autobiographical elements, conflicts, the uncertainty of future, as well as ordinary plots. There is a tradition in the history of British novels, and many excellent novels showing the spirits of the era come to existence, which can be explained by two reasons—the influence of Enlightenment Movement in the 18th century upon the theme of writings, and the tradition of Homer, ancient Greek tragedies and The Bible.The second chapter talks about the protagonist's initiation process, which covers three aspects. The first aspect introduces Stephen's living environment, including social and family environment, which lays the premise for formation of Stephen's character. The era and the country Stephen lives in and his relationship with his parents profoundly affect him. The second aspect mainly discusses the tough difficulties Stephen meets during the process of initiation. Stephen suffers physically and psychologically. The third aspect is about Stephen's final choice. Having gone through so many incidents, Stephen has a meditation on life and finally comes to realize his destiny and finds his way of life. Stephen becomes mature and understands the reality. He thinks nobody will understand him and has to choose a road of self-exile in the end.The last chapter mainly discusses the reflection of the characteristics of Bildungsroman in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It consists of three aspects: autographical type, adventurous spirit, the conflict between protagonist and reality, open ending and casual plots. Many stories in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man come from Joyce's personal experiences. Stephen is adventurous in mind and dares to challenge the traditional ideas, which results in his conflicts with reality. No breath-taking plots are given throughout the novel, and all of the plots are about the theme of initiation. Even the ending is not clearly introduced, which offers an opportunity to the readers to have a free imagination.The last part is the conclusion, which concludes what has been discussed in the previous chapters. The study on Stephen's initiation process reveals the inevitabilities of his changing from a weak, obedient, devout teenager to an artist rebelling against religion and traditional culture. Meanwhile, the novel not only reflects the basic features of Initiation Story, but also shows Joyce's creative writing techniques. From Stephen's initiation readers can get some knowledge about an individual's development, and get a better understanding about the Irish Catholic culture, Irish people's spiritual crisis, as well as the various problems in Ireland. In addition, Stephen's initiation experience can be a significant example for the adolescents.