In class on Monday we were talking about the scene at Clongowes where the fellows are swapping rumors about why the older boys tried to run away. We noted how Stephen is not being picked on anymore, like he was being picked on by Wells in the "do you kiss your mother" scene. However, he doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence about himself or confidence about his standing in the group. He keeps quiet and pretends he knows what's going on instead of asking the questions that we observe whirring around in his head ("What is smugging? Why do it in the square"). This shows he is still on the bottom rungs of the social ladder and still trying not to be picked on.
This scene brought back memories of trying to hang out with my older cousin and his friends as a kid, or of joining a baseball team full of kids who knew each other but not me when I was nine. But in addition to these childhood memories, it made me think of a situation I was in over the summer, when I worked for Illinois Foundation Seed Inc pollinating sweet corn. I was on a crew that consisted of around eight people who were in their twenties and worked for IFSI either year round or for the entire summer. These were the "bosses" and their favorite ways to pass the hours out in the field consisted of quoting movies or, as happened more often, picking on the workers. (To be clear, they weren't managers and they worked alongside of us, but they did carry authority.) The rest of the crew was made up of workers like me. We were high school age (with the exception of a forty-year-old Korean man who didn't speak much English) and most of the workers besides me came from Tolono and went to Unity High School.
I started working there about a week later than everyone else, so I was at a huge disadvantage. My situation was similar to Stephen's situation in chapter one. All of the other fellows at Clongowes knew each other and were in a friend group before he came, similarly to how everyone else knew each other at my summer job. Another similarity is that everyone else had been working for a week before I got there, so they knew more about how things worked at IFSI in the same way that the fellows seem to know more about how social interactions work than Stephen did. All I knew was that I didn't want to attract attention.
I didn't talk much that first week, staying quiet unless spoken to and not saying to much then, either. And it's a good thing I did, too, because I quickly learned what happened to people who made fools of themselves. There was a kid we called Grasshopper (they were big on nicknames at IFSI, I was Tomcat) and he was one of the youngest workers. He would ask questions similar to what Stephen wanted to ask in Portrait and so the bosses would always make fun of him. Pretty soon most of the other workers realized he was a safe target and then they would make fun of him. A similar thing happened with a boy nicknamed Tiny Tim who complained all the time: first the bosses and then everyone else ridiculed him. I kept quiet and worked hard, never commenting unless I was sure it would be received well. Slowly I made friends and made enemies of no one, all while attracting no negative attention. I think Stephen Dedalus would be happy to do the same thing.
This story really should include the details of how you came to be known as "Tomcat." (Wasn't there a kid named Tom they could've pinned that one on?)
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of a situation where it makes sense to "lie low," and we see Stephen employing a version of this strategy throughout the novel, even when his sense of self is increasingly secure. (His "silent, watchful manner" at the children's party; his calm detachment when the other kids are screwing around before class.) Joyce is going to connect this "detachment" to the ideal role of the artist--both within society and outside it at the same time. Perhaps you'd be better poised to represent the day-to-day dynamics of IFSI than one of the kids who tried to put himself out there more, like poor Grasshopper.
It's interesting that you say that Stephen would want to make enemies of no one and avoid attracting negative attention. I think he quickly realizes at Clongowes that everyone loves a hero and you don't become a hero unless you take something or someone on. Since Stephen is small for his age, the rugby fields aren't a suitable place to ascend to hero status so instead he turns to standing up to authority. He gains followers (at least for a time) by creating conflict with Father Dolan. While the rector and Father Dolan just have a laugh about what Stephen did, Father Dolan very well could have made Stephen's time at Clongowe's a living hell-albeit one that pales in comparison to the one described in the sermon in chapter 3. Later at his new school he becomes the one people turn to to engage the priests both for favors (like free days) and question their religious theological ability. I don't know if he doesn't want to avoid negative attention, as he so much wants to channel where that attention comes from. And like Mr. Mitchell I would also like to know where Tomcat came from-my guess is that it has something to do with the hair you were sporting over the summer!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I too used to think that Stephen was simply trying to stay quiet and learn how to become a part of the fellows by observing their behavior from the outside. I was expecting a time to come where Stephen would emulate them, in order to be accepted and have his outcast status removed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I began to see that Stephen wasn't just "lying low," as you put it. Even after he is accepted into the group at Clongowes, he saunters off by himself. I see this as the point where he realizes he is different, and embraces the fact. From this point onwards, he is constantly aloof and reserved, such as the time at his children's party. So, I do agree with you in that Stephen was trying to "lie low" initially, but I think this quickly changed as his own character changed and he became one of those kids who chose to stay out instead of being kicked out. Maybe this is an indication of his maturation, as at the end of Chapter 1, while the other kids are cheering childishly for the take down of Father Dolan, Stephen declares to himself that he will act coolly and adult like towards Father Dolan by never being proud.