sense, however, Marlow’s transition into experience
can be seen to represent the larger experience of
European colonialism. As he points out to his listen-
ers, “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means
the taking it away from those who have a different
complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is
not a pretty thing when you look into it too much”
(7). Marlow’s personal disillusionment signals a
growing awareness of the violence and cruelty that
underpinned the supposedly beneficial process of
colonization.
James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man tells the story of the growth and development
of Stephen Dedalus. Like Marlow, Stephen slowly
gains knowledge about the effects of imperialism,
though in his case he does so as a member of the
colonized people. Portrait presents a more complex
picture of the interrelationship of innocence and
experience, as Stephen moves from one pole to
another within each of the novel’s five sections. For
example, at the end of the third section, Stephen
has become convinced that he must repent his sins
and dedicate his life to serve within the Catholic
Church. In the next section, however, he begins to
implement this plan only to abandon it in favor of
his calling to become an artist. Each section presents
a crisis that Stephen responds to by adopting a new
goal, which is then replaced in the face of the next
crisis or problem that he faces. In this sense, Stephen
is constantly passing through stages of innocence
and experience, but each version of experience is
subsequently revealed to be yet another form of
innocence. Accompanying each new goal or level of
experience, Stephen employs an increasingly com-
plex vocabulary and style. For example, the simple
language of the children’s tale at the beginning,
“Once upon a time and a very good time it was”
gives way, in the final section, to Stephen’s elaborate
arguments about aesthetics. In keeping with the
restless mental development of its protagonist, Por-
trait is difficult to read as a straightforward national
allegory for Ireland. While Stephen recognizes the
power structures behind the use of the English lan-
guage, for example, he also flatly rejects the calls of
nationalism in favor of a European cosmopolitanism
in the form of his pending trip to Paris. Stephen’s
dedication to further his education and to escape
from the confines of his country demonstrates a
commitment to continue the process of discovery
that is at the heart of literature. Precisely by reading
and thinking about literature, we are able to evaluate
our own sense of experience and, hopefully, to enrich
it as well.
See also Adams, Henry: education oF henry
adaMs, the; Austen, Jane: sense and sensi-
biLity; Carroll, Lewis: aLice’s adventures
in wonderLand; Cisneros, Sandra: house on
ManGo street, the; Defoe, Daniel: MoLL
FLanders; Dreiser, Theodore: sister carrie;
Forster, E. M.: rooM with a view, a; Harte,
Bret: “Outcasts of Poker Flats, The”; Haw-
thorne, Nathaniel: “Young Goodman Brown”;
James, Henry: portrait oF a Lady, the; turn
oF the screw, the; Kincaid, Jamaica: annie
John; Nabokov, Vladimir: LoLita; O’Brien, Tim:
thinGs they carried, the; Poe, Edgar Allan:
“Murders in the Rue Morgue, The”; Salinger,
J. D.: catcher in the rye, the; Twain, Mark:
adventures oF toM sawyer, the; Voltaire: can-
dide; Wharton, Edith: house oF Mirth, the;
Wiesel, Elie: niGht; Wilde, Oscar: iMportance
oF beinG earnest, the; picture oF dorian Gray,
the.
FURTHER READING
Brivic, Sheldon. Joyce between Freud and Jung. Port
Washington: Kennikat Press, 1980.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Norton:
1988.
Daniel Ryan Morseisolation
Isolation is a powerful force. Human beings live,
work, and play in groups, and to be separate from
the whole of humanity can disorient us, debilitate
us, and even make us question our place in the
world. Isolation is easily confused with other forms
of aloneness such as loneliness and alienation,
but the condition of being isolated requires that
one be detached from others through reasons not
in one’s control. Isolation produces devastating
consequences for many people, leading to lifelong
emotional problems and difficulty in relationships
with others. Conversely, the condition can move62 isolation