Stephen's Religion example essay topic

Religion plays a huge part in Stephen Dedalus's as well as many other peoples lives around the world. To fully understand how much religion effected Stephen, one must have a concept of the setting of the novel. Stephen grew up in Ireland when the country was going through religious turmoil, political hardships and suffering financial. The two major religions in Ireland are Catholic and Protestant.

Though out Ireland's history the two have been basically at war with one another. This period in time is right before Ireland's war for independents. At an early age Stephen witnesses how friends and families are torn apart from religious differences. At Christmas dinner Mr. Casey, Mr. Dedalus and Dante go back and fourth arguing. All you hear at the dinner table is"I'll pay for your dues, father, when you cease turning the house of God into a polling booth" (Joyce 29).

"A nice answer, said Dante, for any man calling himself a catholic to give to his priest", they would just constantly bicker in front of young Stephen. Then at the end of dinner Stephen has to hear his dad saying "Well, my Christmas dinner has been spoiled anyhow" (32). Going though that at Stephens young age would have to negatively effect him. I think there Stephen starts to be skeptical about his religion. It shows Stephen is effected here "The fellows were all silent. Stephen stood among them, afraid to speak, listening" (40).

Stephen's religion shapes him in so many ways. His religion tells him how to run his life. I think due to the it represses him sexually. He wanted to experiment sexually.

So Stephen goes into the town of Dublin and gets a prostitute. Stephen feels he has committed a terrible thing. I mean sleeping with a hooker isn't a good thing, but its not the end of the world. In the book Joyce goes on for a while about Stephens felling for what he did. "Yes, a just God! Men, reasoning always as men, are astonished that's God should mete out an everlasting and infinite punishment in the fires of hell for a single grievous sin.

[... ] They reason thus because they are unable to comprehend that even venial sin is such a foul and hideous nature. [... ] A sin, an instant folly and weakness, drove Adam and Eve out of Eden and brought death and suffering into the world".

(144) Joyce takes a lot of time to show Stephen repenting. I feel there is a significance for that. Stephen's Religion looks so down upon what he has just done. Stephen feels in order to be a good person you must be a good catholic. His religious beliefs are shaping his feelings right now. After Stephen confesses what he has done to the monk he decides to purify his life.

Stephen would like to be a good catholic and make his way on to priesthood. He then realizes that his religious life would deny all the pleasures he is so often tempted by. Stephen decides to turn away from a religious occupation and that's when he realizes he wants to leave a pursue other things. If Stephen didn't have all the religious struggles I think he would of turned out a different way. He might have continued in a religious vocation, he needed the struggle ti turn him towards what he really wanted out of life. R.K. Narayan uses religion in his book The Guide to shape Raju's destiny.

In Portrait Stephen abandoned his religion. Now Narayan uses religion in a different way, Raju ultimately embraces religion. These two main characters both have religion shaping them, yet have to extremely different outcomes. In the beginning of the novel Vil an assumes Raju to be a spiritual guru. Raju takes on this role. He pretends and gets the whole village to believe him.

He knows he is not a spiritual leader, but he. ".. merely raised a hand and waved it as if to say, 'Be peaceful; everything will be all right; I will fix it with the gods. ' " (Narayan 82). Here im not really sure if Raju is just a good actor or if he really thinks he is a guru. The villagers certain believe him.

By the end of the novel religion as really effected Raju. He has turned away from what has corrupted him and id ready to make an ultimate sacrifice, himself. At the end of the novel "They held him as if he were a baby. Raju opened his eyes, looked about, and said, 'Vel an, it's raining in the hills. I can feel it coming up under my feet, up my legs' He sagged down" (220). Narayan just doesn't come out and say it but you get the felling Raju dies.

Raju started off just playing a role. He was acting a part just to make it by to get some food. I think at some point Raju stops acting and really takes on and believes that he is a spiritual guru. He really did something no one would do he fasted and killed himself for the good of the village.

His religion turned him into a completely different person. In the beginning of the novel he was just a fraud. Now at the end one would really have to question if he was a fraud or not. Even though religion effected Raju and Stephen in different ways, I think they wouldn't be the same with out there religion. This isn't part of the question here but I feel its important. This is why its world literature.

I don't think people realize how religion effects us in our everyday lives. When we filled out those people in class, not a lot of people put religion. I think that was a big factor people tend to forget about. In these novels it clearly shows how religion effects your over all life.