To paint a complete portrait of Stephen, James Joyce uses a stream of consciousness in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that varies in complexity as Stephen ages. As Stephen ages, his consciousness begins to analyze and criticize the world. Although the complexity of his language increases, Stephen focuses on a few topics marked by epiphanies such as sex, religion and Ireland. The narrator imitates Stephen's mind at various stages of development, from the simplicity of primitive language to the awareness of later chapters. Joyce uses a change in syntax, imagery, and choice of details to illustrate the change in consciousness over time. The opening lines of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man immediately fall into baby language: "Once upon a time and a very good time there was a cow coming down the road and this cow who was going down the road met a nice little boy called baby tuckoo... His father told him this story: his father looked at him through a window: he had a hairy face. The narrator's point of view seems to be directly related to Stephen. The choice of words "moocow", "nicens" and "tuckoo", the syntax and lack of coherent thought are used, shows Stephen's childish and primitive nature at this age. The narrator also includes observations that the child's mind would notice, such as his father's "furry face." The first revelation also appears with the “moocow”. The moocow is the image of the caring nature of Ireland. Stephen, as a child, considers the presence of the moo cow to be a “very good moment”. This alludes to the fact that he feels positive about Ireland feeding him. The image of Ireland as a nurturing homeland contrasts with the repression of religion in another series of epiphanies. ...... middle of paper ...... the session is still on Stephen's mind. As he watches the bird fly above him, artistic consciousness shows its maturation. “What birds were those?” Stephen wonders as he begins to artistically analyze them and their actions. “He watched their escape; bird after bird... They flew high and low, but always in circles in straight and curved lines and always flying from left to right, circling around an air temple. Stephen's mind captures the details and traces their path. The artist Stephen creates a metaphor to represent the way he sees movement, "revolving around an air temple." His mind matured from simple details to complex narratives. This continues with the bird's cries. “Their cry...like threads of silky light unwound from whirring spools.” Stephen's artistic mind uses a simile to describe their cries; illustrating how it is consciousness has