Portrait of an Artist, by an Artist for an...artist?

I didn't expect to enjoy A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. My only prior experience with the novel was a vague memory of a babysitter with her heavily-lined eyelids falling closed time and time again as she tried to read it on our couch.

But I didn't fall asleep once. I ate up the book in a plush armchair with many glasses of tea in front of our Christmas tree. You see, I feel like Stephen is quite a lot like me at times...and quite a lot like Spock. He is an outsider, a creator, an ARTIST. And it seems artists are often fated to be alone, like Stephen is, adrift without any connection.

Unlike Stephen, I don't feel that this will be my fate. My creation, the heart of my art, may lie in my "treasure" of words, but it also subsists in my passion and interest in people. Because people are what I love, and what informs my art, I don't think I'll ever truly abandon the larger world to be at one with my work. As my family knows all too well, there are times when I prefer solitude, and they are best off slipping quiet notes under my doorway instead of walking into the carnage of my notes and figures.

But I always come out of the room eventually.

So, what can we learn about our big question from Portrait?

1. Not all people THINK they are artists, but all artists are people. Art must come from a very human place, a place of creation and experience and imagination. All people are driven to create, but some take this to the level of ART and others are satisfied with more minor expressions of creativity.

2. Humanity is defined by connections. At the close of the novel, we are left with impressions of humanity that are determined by his connections. We witness his friendships, particularly his affinity to a poorly spoken boy named Lynch, who uses "yellow" as a curse, but it is THIS individual who Stephen reveals his philosophies. We read of Stephen's passion for church and feeling, but his inability to reach a complete union with his muse. We learn about Stephen through Stephen's voice; we recieve a first-hand impression of his humanity.

3. Life without art is hardly life at all for the artist. Stephen cannot exist happily without his passion and his art, his love for words and his role as a detached observer. His life begins with his realization of his life as an artist. It is a fantastic rebirth because he finally lays a true claim to his soul!