4/2 - APotAaaYM - fin

The flock (if you can call it a flock) of birds in the second-to-last section, in my opinion, was a little too on-the-nose for my taste. I get that Stephen's last name is related to the Grecian Daedalus (and he in turn is related to his son, Icarus), but putting a flock of birds flying around near the sun (was it near the sun? now that i think about it, I'm not sure if it was even day time then. but I think it had to be, otherwise how could Stephen seen them?) was almost too subtle in its in-between the lines-yness (sarcasm is meant to be spoken, not written, unfortunately). But, I can understand that Stephen would contemplate the origins and meanings of his name (I myself sometimes ponder that my first name is Irish and means something aloong the lines of "handsome" and "strong" - go figure).

The situation with Stephen and Emma is a condundrum to me. (First of all, she's a big jerk for ignoring Stephen.) It might just be because I, for whatever reason, did not read close enough or what, but I do not know where this character of the feminine persuasion came into the status quo. I remember when he wrote something and addressed it "To E---C----" and I figured it was a woman or a girl he knew, but I didn't think she ever became a large part of his life. There was that dream scene (I think it was a dream, anyway), where he got all angry and whatnot at how she flirted with a priest or something...but that may or may not have been something I just made up out of thin air. Anyways, I kind of wish that if she's so "important" to Stephen that she be introduced better and given more "screen time," as it were.

It's interesting that Joyce chose to make Cranly eat figs during the scene either before or during the conversation (I cannot remember if he was eating them; i believe Stephen told him to stop but I'm not sure) he is having with Stephen. It's interesting in that they are talking about religion and figs, or their leaves, rather, were the chosen form of clothing of the two "original people" who God created first before us all - Adam and Eve. Whether or not Joyce really chose to make the figs a subtle reference to the Genesis story is up in the air, but I do think that it's an interesting and related idea, not to mention kind of cool (in my mind, anyways).

*screeching tires noise*

In regards to the just mentioned tire screech, i felt that way when I read the final section of the novel because it just took a very unexpected turn and odd style change. Well, maybe not odd per se, just very unexpected. I didn't really think that spending over 250 pages on the mindset just to switch to a first-person perspective was a good way to spend the final pages.

That being said, I didn't really feel anything either way towards the end of the book. It ended - that was it. It felt very anti-climactic and I pretty much didn't care where Stephen Dedalus was off to - as an artist or whatever he chose to be. Hopefully he did the knowledgeable thing and joined the circus so he could do what all boys wish to do - tame lions and learn how all those clowns can get into that little car.