The Development of the ArtistArtists come in many forms, shapes, and sizes, but all artists start out as children. It is often through experiences acquired while growing up that one has topics and inspiration for creating later in life. Lily Owens, the protagonist of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, are similar characters destined to transform from naïve and inexperienced children into great artists with the help of their experiences and the people they encounter along the way.
The father figures of Lily and Stephen are both very influential to their children, although neither of them is seen in a positive light by their offspring. The major connection between the two fathers is their obsession with the past and inability to move beyond into a more positive existence. Although Lily's father is more prone to physically display his displeasure with her and the "lies" she is always concocting, Stephen's father degrades Stephen just as much verbally and emotionally.
Private Stephen Wallace and others of Princess Pat...
Stephen Fry - Rehearsals at NorCaT
Stephen Marley @ Catalyst (Feb 19, 2009)Lily looks outside of herself for a solution to her T. Ray problem: "I had asked God repeatedly to do something about T. Ray. He'd gone to church for forty years and he was only getting worse. It seemed like this should tell God something". (3) It is likely that Lily looks beyond herself for a solution because T. Ray is a dominating male figure she knows she is unable to conquer physically and also because for the bulk of the novel she does not understand T. Ray's anger with her. Stephen's relationship with his father is more concrete and understandable to Stephen because he knows that drinking and loss of status and money are the main causes for his displeasure...
Not too deep...
Simple, interesting topic, doesn't get into too much detail.
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