James Joyce is often presented as a troubled man whose reputation as a writer exceeded his actual lifestyle. His personal and family life influenced his writing tremendously. Constantly battling different obstacles, he developed different methods of coping with all these situations. His parents? strong convictions in Roman Catholicism were thrust upon him at an early age. Joyce later renounced his parents? tradition, after having been schooled by Jesuits for most of his early childhood. His parents, besides being severely religious, also suffered from poverty for much of Joyce's childhood. His father's alcoholic lifestyle did not help the situation either, and would appear as a theme in much of Joyce's writing and would affect his adult life as well.James Joyce was born into a devout Roman Catholic family on February 2, 1882 (Peterson 1). Both his mother and father were deeply religious, his father even served as a fierce Irish Catholic patriot, always willing to defend his faith. His religious education officially started at the age of six with the Jesuits at Clongowes Wood College about 40 miles away from his home in Dublin (Peterson 2). His father wanted to provide the best possible education for his oldest son (O?Brien 5). At Clongowes Wood, he excelled in all his subjects with great ease and was soon at the head of his class. Here he became interested in the religious rituals of the liturgy and served as an altar boy in daily masses (O?Brien 6). His education at Clongowes Wood would come to an abrupt end in 1891 when, after three years, his father, due to lack of funds and increasing debt, would have to withdraw young James (Peterson 2).
             James? Jesuit education didn't stop there. After a short time at a Christian Brothers school, James was sent to Belvedere College (Peterson 2). This Jesuit day school was a continuation of his religious education. His education in a Jesuit environment left him with a lasting impression, ...