A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Chapter 1 Part 2

In which a household gathering kindles fierce debate on politics and religion, revealing the tangled loyalties and passionate convictions of its members, while a young boy quietly absorbs the weight of their words and unspoken tensions. Later, the boy faces harsh punishment at school, yet finds a cautious reprieve in a compassionate authority, leaving him to wander beneath the soft, grey evening and the lingering sound of cricket bats.