or Stephen,inhuman clamour [soothing] his ears (224). Stephen Dedalus seessolace in the birds flutter of wings; they are the fundamental symbol ofthe freedom he is ready to have for his own (224). He wishes to have theirliberation from the society he knows as he reflects on:The correspondence of birds to things of the intellect and of how the creatures of the air have their knowledge and know their times and seasons because they, unlike man, are in the order of their life and have not perverted that order by reason(224).In order to seek true emancipation, Stephen must go away for they werebirds ever going and coming...ever leaving the homes they had built towander(225). Stephen resolves to leave his Irish homeland; free and wildas his images of the birds. The attributes which mold Stephen Dedalus growing integrity andlife decisions stem from the actions which surround him. The reader associates Stephen by the images he encounters and his reaction to them. In James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephensconnection with bird imagery helps to define his search for a role in hissociety, and helps readers define and identify with his quest....
