“And while the friends were still standing in tears by the bedside the soul of the sinner was judged” (120). James Joyce writes this as he leads Stephen through a religious crisis in chapter three of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Throughout chapter three of this story, Stephen begins to fear for his moral standing with God. Earlier in the book, Stephen had betrayed God by sleeping with a prostitute, and guilt causes the teen living in Ireland to classify himself as a sinner. The thought that Stephen’s soul will be forever given a bad name if he does not side with God can relate to the political issues of the time with Parnell and the conflicting views of Ireland in the fight to choose country or religion. In this passage of chapter three, the “friends” that stand in tears beside Stephen represent the Irish people who supported Parnell in their distress when they had heard of his affair that went against all their moral values. This conflict brings out differences in those who favored religion versus those who favored their country and stood behind Parnell. Stephen’s soul relates to the sins of Parnell, and the character’s conflicting positions on his own sins relates to the split between views of people in Ireland.

During time where this story takes place, those living in Ireland were attempting to separate their country from the control of England, and Charles Parnell almost succeeded at uniting the Irish, until the country learned of his affair. Then people either chose to support Parnell in spite of their religion, or they supported the church in spite of country nationalists. Proof that Stephen has the Irish conflict on his mind, in the midst of his fears of religious judgement, are shown during this chapter when Joyce writes, “the letters of the name of Dublin lay heavily upon his mind” (119). Stephen looks within the “letters” of his city’s name to find what is going on in society.

Letters make up a word just as societal views create Dublin’s overall image.When Stephen sees the conflict that lies within the countries views, regarding to the issue of country over religion, the problems lay “heavily upon his mind”. The time period’s conflicting views in Ireland cause diverse areas of tension between citizens, and the heavy topic of Parnell in Ireland shows why Joyce would relate it to a hard time in Stephen’s life. Stephen then goes to further questions himself as he confronts his morality and whether or not to confess his sins.

The idea that if you have sinned once, you have forever ruined the image of your soul relates Stephen’s soul to Parnell and his affair. Parnell was able to unite Ireland with the possibility to rise up against Britain in hopes of becoming an independent country. However when the public found out about his affair, Ireland split within itself and had destroyed their chances of independence.

Joyce shows this when he writes, “that time is gone: gone forever” (140). The “time” that Joyce refers to is the time that Parnell spent trying to bring Ireland together in a revolt against Britain. After the affair, or in Stephen’s case going to the prostitutes, there is a split and restoring the old ways seems as if it is “gone forever”. Stephen begins to worry that choosing sin would cause him to be forever divided between views, just like Ireland was in the time that Joyce writes this book.

Stephen’s soul also relates to Parnell and his tarnished reputation when Joyce writes about the eternity of hell. Joyce writes, “last and crowning torture of all the tortures of that awful place is the eternity hell. Eternity! O, dread the dire word” (142). The priest that preaches his views on hell says this to Stephen, and he puts stress on the eternity of hell that will result if one does not confess their sins. The eternity of hell relates to Parnell and his affair because it shows how he could never reverse his actions to change how the public now viewed him.

When Joyce writes, “torture of all tortures” he refers to the thoughts that Ireland was close to a possible revolt for independence, but then failed when the sins of Parnell’s affair divided the country. Joyce writes Stephen’s moral conflict to coincide with the difficult state of Ireland following public divide. The bad and sinful image of Parnell corrupts views of him to Irish citizens, and those who choose religion over country will see Parnell as a sinner for “eternity”. Stephen feels that if he does not confess, then he is in danger of being viewed by the priests in the way more the religiously focused Irish view Parnell. Stephen fears becoming a sinner for life.

Throughout Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, he brings up the issue of religion versus country in Ireland in regards to the issue of Parnell’s affair. During chapter three of the novel, Stephen represents this recurring issue with his own problem of whether or not to confess his sins. The preachings during the chapter encourage Stephen to confess, because he begins to fear that if he does not right his moral wrongs, then his soul will be sent to hell for eternity. The thought of eternity may relate to Parnell’s newfound image as sinner, and Stephen would not want to meet this same fate, causing him to end the chapter with a confession of his sins and union with God.