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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

by James Joyce

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Who is 'baby tuckoo' in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man?

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In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 'baby tuckoo' is a nickname for the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus. This term originates from the children's stories Stephen's father told him, featuring a mystical cow that would whisk children away to a magical land. This ties into the epic journey Stephen embarks on in the novel. The term 'baby tuckoo' symbolizes Stephen's transformation, mirroring the mythical heroes in Irish folklore.

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Joyce’s penultimate novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, opens with a line from a story Stephen Dedalus remembers being told as a child:

Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo.

Stephen remembers quite well how his father would act out the part of baby tuckoo, as is exemplified by his use of “baby talk” (moocow, for example), and this gives readers their first impressions of Stephen’s father as a kind and involved figure in Stephen’s formative years.

The reason the name baby tuckoo was chosen is because it was a nickname for Joyce himself as a child, and the story itself is an interesting reference as well. As Don Gifford notes in his book Joyce Annotated, the story of moocow and baby tuckoo is rooted in traditional Irish folklore. According to legend, a magical cow takes certain children to an island realm where they are groomed to become heroes before being returned to their astonished parents. This snippet of a story alludes to the traditional “hero’s journey” that Stephen embarks on throughout the novel.

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