The Ending of James Joyce's "A Portrait of The Artist As a Young Man"

The Ending of James Joyce’s Novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"

The ending of James Joyce’s novel “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” is complicated and it takes the reader a bit of time to sift through its multiple layers. There are two ways in which the reader can explain the ending of the novel. One of the ways is assuming that Stephen becomes successful, becomes a famous artist, and abandons Ireland together with all its issues for keeps. This interpretation can be most probable if the reader takes the Portrait as an independent book. The two main words that make up the title, “artist” and “portrait,” explains the artistic identity of the main character-Stephen Dedalus. The novel follows his life from his childhood until the time he aspires to become a great artist. Although he wants to be a writer, the word portrait is an illustration of his ambition in creating a representation of reality and the love he has for arts. The word portrait, therefore, is a very strange choice that the author of the novel made which calls for further inspection of the meaning that it brings out. A portrait refers to an object that is not dynamic, one that cannot move or change over a period. Thus, it becomes an odd word to use for a novel. By using the word portrait, the writer wanted to bring a still form of the book as well as for the evolution and the development of the main protagonist himself. He was set to create something experimental instead of following the easy account of earlier works. Therefore, portrait reflects the book’s virtually cubist aesthetic, while it precisely explains how Joyce brings together the scenes from the life and growth of the main character without constraining a narrative or definite meaning upon them.

A Second Interpretation of the Ending

There is as well a second way in which the reader can interpret the ending of the novel. This one takes into account the continuance of Stephen’s chronicle in Ulysses, which makes it a better way for the reader to interpret the ending compared to the first one. Here, the reader can assume that Stephen that Stephen is a character doomed to fail because he is an unknown person who is overly confident and pretentious. This point is supported by his destiny at the start of Ulysses story. As the story of Ulysses begins, Stephen drops out of art school and has, therefore, returned home in Dublin. He gets a job at a nearby school which pays him less money that cannot satisfy his expenditures. This makes him borrow a lot as he exhibits the initial signs of a person who is in danger of becoming alcoholic. The ending of Portrait cannot, therefore, be taken seriously with this fate in mind. A more cynical interpretation of Stephen’s fate is as well a point that can be used to support this second interpretation. Stephen’s second name, Dedalus, refers to the mythological Greek inventor who made wings of wax for his son, Icarus. Eventually, his son had a blind ambition which made him fly near the sun. The sun melted the wings, and he lurched into the sea, and this was his end. With this illusion in mind, it is hard for the reader to see Stephen’s ambition optimistically.