While Stephen eventually turns away from religion, it is an important facet in his development as an artist. Religion, originally one of the "nets" by which he flies, leads to the loss of his naivet and later to his disillusionment with a conformist society as a whole. Stephen's thoughts are too independent and liberal for his contemporaries, and thus it is inevitable that he will cast away his nets, reject society, and become an artist. Religion disturbs, shapes, and finally changes Stephen for good. While religion leads to an artistic and lonely life, Stephen can never totally break from his family or need for companionship. At the close of the novel he says, "Old father, old artificer, stand by me now and ever in good stead," belying the fact that no matter how independent Stephen becomes, no man can be an island....
