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•Stephen only interested in being gratified; Discusses food with the same passion as the sin of lying with prostitutes:
• "What did it avail him to pray when he knew that his soul lusted after it's own destruction." (72).
• " He stooped to the evil of hypocrisy with others, skeptical of their innocence which he could cajole so easily". (72)
•He attends a religious retreat and hears sermons preached by Father Arnall
• -he questions religion (75)
• -listening to father Arnall before attending the retreat he feels guilty : " his heart had withered up like a flower of The desert ...
•Stephen feels guilt and undergoes punishments- the POV is his experience, solely (72).
•Stephen dwells on his mortal sins as if they are a badge of triumph, but eventually fears the retribution of God
•Pride is his primary motivation to repent:
• 1. Leads him to believe that his sins are too grave for forgiveness
• 2. Leads him to think that the sermon was all about him
• 3. Causes him to dream of a personal vision of hell
• 4. Leads him to imagine reconciliation coming to him, instead of him asking for it
•"Became a child's soul again" at the retreat (77)
•Focus of retreat: death, judgement, hell and heaven, seen through Stephen's reaction to hearing the sermons:
• " a thick fog seemed to compass his mind" (79)
• "...he had sunk to the state of a beast that licks his chaps after meat" (79)
• "... the body that was his stood, listless and dis honored, gazing out of darkened eyes, helpless, perturbed and human..." (79)
• "The preacher blew death into his soul" (79)
• "Death is certain" (81)
• " O grave, where is thy victory?/O death, where is thy sting." (81)
•Allusion to Adam and Eve - foil to Stephen and Emma; Stephen experiences a mental tour of hell and "wakes up" to know that he was not damned (89)
• Decides he will repent
• Pride is his primary motivation to repent:
• 1. Leads him to believe that his sins are too grave for forgiveness (97)
• 2. Leads him to think that the sermon was all about him
• 3. Causes him to dream of a personal vision of hell(98)
• "His eyes were dimmed with tears and, looking humbly up to heaven, he wept for the innocence he had lost"(99)
• "One soul was lost; a tiny soul: his." (100)
• 4. Leads him to imagine reconciliation coming to him, instead of him asking for it
• He is 16 years old and has committed many sins
• He leaves the church and feels forgiven- "The ciborium had come to him" (104)