ABSTRACT
In James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus expresses his rejection of religion with these words: “I will not serve.” In so doing, he intentionally echoes the “Non serviam” of Lucifer which marked the fall of a third of the angels from God’s sight. If we attempt to understand Stephen’s, or Lucifer’s, rejection of God, the search for the underlying reason might be endless, for in all likelihood, something other than reason is ultimately behind it. Cranly presses his friend Stephen: “Many persons have doubts, even religious persons, yet they overcome them or put them aside. Are your doubts… too strong?” Stephen responds, “I do not wish to overcome them.” 1 Stephen’s rejection is not based on reasons, but pure choice.
