In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, from a young age, Stephen realizes he is different than the other children and has a higher lever of thinking than his peers. Through this advance in his maturity, he has created his own identity without having to rely on other children. Although Stephen realizes he is different from other children, he does not mind being alone and having thoughts different from everyone else. When he begins to realize his is alone in the world, he turns to the church to attempt to reinforce the identity he has already created for himself, however in the end, this lifestyle is not correct for him and does not aid him in being an individual. At the end of his youth, and the end of the story, he realizes he needs to take charge in creating his own life in becoming an artist. Without the crutch of other people and organizations, he becomes an artist and realizes who he truly is.