At the beginning of the novel, we meet Stephen at the moment when he experiences his first essential awareness of the world around him. He is "baby tuckoo," the center of the universe, the one to whom stories are told and songs are sung. We perceive the world exactly as Stephen does—through sounds, smells, and sensations—all structured by a catalogue of comparisons which introduce the novel's good/bad, cold/hot, light/dark image motifs.
Clearly, even at an early age, Stephen prefers his mother to his father, and he is unconsciously aware of his nurse Dante's political and religious ideologies. He also learns, because of the "Pull out his eyes, Apologise" refrain, that any sudden, natural (spontaneous, artistic) expression of emotion—such as his declaration that he is going to marry Eileen (a little Protestant girl)—will result in swift moral retribution from the stern and practical members of his family. Later, of course, society’s censures will parallel Stephen's family's early condemnation of his spontaneous outbursts of emotion and artistic expression.
Stephen's overly sensitive reactions to this censoring incident is proof to us that Stephen is "different." He feels keenly guilty without understanding why; later in life, he will suffer other moments of agonizing, confusing guilt.
The next scene, at Clongowes, focuses on Stephen’s growing sense of isolation. Joyce's imagery in this passage—"swarming . . . strong cries . . . pale and chilly . . . thud . . . [and] greasy . . . "—indicates Stephen's general discomfort in his new surroundings. The use of the term "heavy bird," describing the low-flying, ponderous football, introduces bird imagery, imagery which will pervade the novel; here, it is used to identify the mythical escape theme which unifies the novel. Young Dedalus (like his Greek namesake, Daedalus) sees himself in a hostile environment from which, at least for the moment, he is unlikely to escape, although he would like to. Similarly, Stephen (the name of the first Christian martyr) suffers ridicule because of the uniqueness of his name; he is mercilessly questioned about his name by a bullying classmate, Nasty Roche.
Stephen's feelings of loneliness increase as he thinks of the day when his parents said good-bye to him, leaving him helpless in the threatening maze of his new life at Clongowes, where he felt "caught in the whirl of a scrimmage . . . fearful of the flashing eyes and muddy boots . . ." He soon realizes that he can momentarily escape the cruel realities of school life by contemplating things which he finds beautiful and, later, re-creating them with words.
For example, when reflecting on the lighted castle, Stephen remarks, "It was like something in a book." Here, Stephen reveals an early insight into the nature of creativity: he can translate something physical into artistic form. He not only begins to value words, but he also realizes that a particular arrangement of words makes the "nice sentences in Doctor Cornwell's Spelling Book" seem "like poetry." Stephen is already a young artist. This scene plays an important part in Joyce's revelation of Stephen's ultimate escape from a humdrum, priest-ridden life.
Suddenly, Stephen's artistic reverie is interrupted by real life, and we are reminded that although Stephen may be artistic, he is still a little boy. Stephen precisely describes the disgusting details of being pushed into the "square ditch" by a bullying classmate, and, here, in addition to our responding to Stephen’s description of the sensations he felt, we should be aware that the sudden shock of the cold, slimy [cesspool] water is heavily symbolic; the submersion into the cesspool is Stephen’s crude baptism into an offensive and cruel world, a world which differs greatly from the warm, secure world of home. The contrast between these two worlds, as well as the contrast between a series of hot/cold images (hot is natural and therefore good; cold is unfeeling and therefore bad), sets up another catalogue of comparisons and conflicts which Stephen must try to resolve as he attempts to find his place in the new world of Clongowes.
One of the conflicts which Stephen must face is the class competition between the scholastic teams of York and Lancaster, named after the British royal families involved in the War of the Roses (1445-85). Although the team badges, bearing either a red or white rose, represent two political factions, Stephen is not really concerned with winning the scholastic contest. He is concentrating on a world which might allow the limitless possibilities of "wild rose blossoms." Here, as he will do in future years, Stephen shuns the arbitrary restrictions governing religion and/or politics; he prefers, instead, to re-create (in his mind) a more tolerant world in which he can feel free to express his own wild, creative nature.
In addition to introducing us to Stephen’s "differentness" and his feelings of alienation, Joyce is also introducing us to the matter of loyalty—in particular, the matter of Stephen's loyalty to his "mother country," Ireland. The character who most represents Ireland is Stephen’s mother, Mary Dedalus, and Stephen's later anxieties about exile from Mother Ireland are foreshadowed here in his thoughts about being exiled from his loving mother while he is at boarding school. Feeling alien and alone, Stephen longs to be "at home [where he can] lay his head on his mother's lap." This longing troubles Stephen, and one night as he waits for sleep, he begins to imaginatively open and close the flaps of his ears, creating a Freudian-like sensation of a "train going into a tunnel." Freud's imagery, not unfamiliar to Joyce, is related not only to the experience of childbirth, but it also is related to the anxiety/release pattern which Stephen is experiencing because of his separation from home. These anxieties increase when Wells asks Stephen about kissing his mother. Once again, unable to understand his feelings of hot guilt, Stephen finds solace in the beauty and precision of words.
One day, while contemplating his loneliness, Stephen begins graphically to establish his own sense of identity by writing in his lesson book, "Stephen Dedalus / Class of Elements / Clongowes Wood College / Sallins / County Kildarel Ireland / Europe / The World / The Universe." This declaration of identity, illustrating his feelings of smallness in an immense world, marks the beginning of Stephen’s attempt to consciously arrange the details of his life in his own manner, creatively to establish control, using the power of words in a pattern.
There exists, however, an area of conflict that Stephen cannot resolve by resorting to words. Religion is a problem for the young boy. He finds comfort in the repetition of memorized prayers; he is offered solace, but, at the same time, he is terrified by the notion of the eternal fires of eternal damnation. In the scene when Stephen recites his prayers before going to bed, Joyce conveys his own disdain for the rote memorizations encouraged by the Catholic Church. Such prayers, he believes, offer small hope for people who are deeply troubled; ultimately, such prayers are of little use in times of deep suffering. Stephen's own prayers seem to echo Joyce's observations; it is likely that the boy does not even understand the prayers that he is reciting. Note that his night tremblings seem to cease not after prayers, but after he reminds himself that he will not go to hell when he dies. However, Stephen is not truly comforted. He is still haunted by the terrible image of the prefect's descent down a dark, mythical corridor. Stephen's night fears dissolve only after he remembers that he will soon be going home for the holidays.
