What is the point of view and imagery in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man?

The limited third person
narration allows the reader to see the thoughts and feelings of Stephen Dedalus alone as the
novel progresses, and these emotions are expressed in the third person, giving the novel a focus
on this centralas the reader is only privy to Stephen's emotions. Thetherefore focuses centrally
on Stephen's developments and how he grows and develops as a character throughout this novel. An
interesting aspect of this text is the way in which Stephen experiences a series of epiphanies
that make him realise certain things about himself and his life. In Chapter 4, for example, he
experiences the following epiphany when he chooses to dedicate his life to art: 

His throat ached with a desire to cry aloud, the cry of a hawk or
eagle on high, to cry piercingly of his deliverance to the winds. This was the call of life to
his soul not the dull gross voice of the world of duties and despair, not the inhuman voice that
had called him to the pale service of the altar. An instant of wild flight had delivered him and
the cry of triumph which his lips withheld cleft his brain.

The imagery in this quote is fascinating as it uses the imagery of a bird of prey in
flight calling out to describe the feeling he feels as he imagines "life" calling out
to his "soul." This epiphany is described as "an instant of wild flight" and
is compared distinctly to the epiphany that led him to consort with prostitutes and the epiphany
that led him to believe that he should dedicate his life to religion. The imagery in this quote
perfectly captures the feeling of transcendence that Stephen is experiencing, as he feels the
emotion is splitting his brain in two.

Ironically, of course, the point of
view, imagery andare tied together with the epiphanies he experiences throughout the novel.
When, for example, at the end of Chapter 3 Stephen experienced his religious epiphany, he never
doubted that he would dedicate the rest of his life to religion, and the point of view that
allows the reader to experience Stephen's emotions as they occur without indicating the future
supports this view. This subsequent epiphany shows that plans change and however firm and
decided one may feel about the course of one's life, it is possible that this can
change.