What conflicts young, Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce's, A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man?

The book follows Stephen's life from his nursery, to his upbringing in a home with lots of financial, religious and political tension, to religious school where he decides not to become a priest, and finally to the university, where he is seen by his peers as a poet and is working to develop his own theories of art and beauty. Stephen's trials show us not only the life of a growing boy in late 19th century Dublin, but also the thoughts and decisions a person has to deal with in order to become an artist.