The Body and the Soul

Chapter three is definitely not for the faint of heart. The idea of hell, and even heaven, is a heavy one. The mood throughout Chapter Three reflects Stephen's constant internal struggle to find where religion fits in his life. To be honest, his progression (or maybe regression?) is difficult to see. A once confident, albeit lustful and sinful, boy is reduced into a shell of fear.

I found the transition between Stephen's thoughts and the priest's sermon to be quite startling. Only pages before the holy sermon, we read about Stephens sexual lusts and his indifference to God. As readers we know everything about Stephen's character: his sins, his regrets, and most importantly how his changes and developments. From the morbid and sexually mature thoughts we are thrust into the exact world that Stephen has been dreading and avoiding. The 'pure world' is introduced with the the priest addressing the boys. Every few pages the priest addresses the young men as "my dear boys" or a variation of the same endearment. This would otherwise not be extraordinary, however it really emphasizes the two different worlds that Stephen is currently caught between. This very dynamic section in Chapter Three was reflected both on Stephen and the reader as well; we experience and live the novel with Stephen.

Another interesting aspect of the priest's sermon was his very direct allusion to Dante Alighieri and his ideas on the soul and the body. Dante's Inferno, Paradiso, and Purgatorio addresses the role of the body and the soul, both while in the living world and in the afterlife. This idea was explored quite a bit in the 14th century. At the time the belief was that the soul was to be protected by all costs. The body was disposable, for a lack of a better word, and was only meant for the meaningless and horrid life of the living world. A clean soul, protected by the body, was the path to heaven. This idea is quite interesting in relation to the struggles that Stephen is experiencing. Stephen's worldly desires and lusts begin to affect his soul and his thoughts. He begins to give up on God and scoffs at His influence in his life. After the eye-opening sermon, Stephen only begins rectifying his sinful pleasures by enduring physical discomforts. His lustful thoughts remain the same and therefore unsuitable for heaven. Stephen's development in Chapter Four explores this dynamic between body and soul further. Essentially, Stephen frees his mind.

The sermon in Chapter Three also brought out a feeling of confusion in me. The idea of heaven and hell and one's destiny is a very serious topic, especially the young men. The way the priest presents the information in his sermon is very different than what one might think. First he addresses the young men as, "my dear boys," acknowledging their immaturity and youth, but then proceeds to unload very serious and dark ideas in a very structured manner. The priests explains what hell feels like and why it's terrible in vivid, graphic detail. This is serious talk for mature and serious people. When reading this section for the first time it was first confusing and then startling to see what young children are being fed by the church. It is no doubt to instill a fear of sin in them, and as we see, it definitely leaves a mark on Stephen.

Movies: The Markings of Coming-of-Age?

Remember those movies you used to watch as a young child? The Christmas movies that your parents made you sit down and watch? Or maybe your parents' favorite movie of all time, that you didn't really understand but laughed at anyway?

As the holiday season rolls around every year, I find myself catapulted back into my childhood through the rich smells of baking and the familiar sounds of holiday movies. This past Christmas I watched several Czech holiday classics that we used to watch as a family years ago. I thought I knew what the movies were about, but boy was I wrong! I realized that as a child I had a totally different outlook and understanding of what certain characters were talking about or what type of people they represented.

Most notably different was the Czech movie S tebou me baví svet (I Enjoy the World With You). I remember this movie as being very relatable; the kids were only a little younger than me at the time and played games in the snow that I totally would have played! However, according to IMDb, this movie is actually about, "Three middle-aged men [who] go for a vacation with their children and learn to cope with their youngsters' needs without their wives. Quickly, they plan to exhaust the kids to have some time off, but nothing really works out as planned." I was so confused by the time I finished that movie, I went to ask my parents what other deceptive movies they showed us over the years.

Now, a different interpretation of a movie might be attributed to "just being a child." However, the development of understanding and opinion of our surroundings marks the transition from childhood into adulthood. When we watch these movies year after year, and sometimes after a long hiatus, our understanding of certain elements in the movie changes as we have developed a more thorough view of the world. Coming-of-age is a development that never ends. We constantly learn new things that may change our outlook on the world. As we discussed in class, coming of age is often dictated by certain events or ceremonies that symbolize a transition into adulthood. However, how can someone else determine when and how you come-of-age?

Back to movies. As the holiday season started winding down, I continued to reflect on how my outlook on many of the traditional movies had changed. It is true that I followed the premise and point of the movie much better, but I was also able to understand their characters on a more personal and deeper level.

So, I ask, can movies be a marking of coming-of-age?