In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce follows the mental and physical maturation of Stephen Dedalus. ... Growing up in a devout Catholic family, Stephen is instilled with a sense of right and wrong by Dante and his mother which adheres strongly to religious dogma; as Dante ironically puts it: "A priest would not be a priest if he did not tell his flock what is right and what is wrong.... This gradually developed form of divergent thinking is most obviously demonstrated by Stephen's behavior while attending church with his uncle. ... Again, Joyce's personal life...

• Word Count: 1289
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate