"Abbas father, furious dean, what offence laid fire to their brains?"

In “Proteus,” Stephen wonders why others provoke him. Unable to think of a good reason, he continues his walk down the beach...

There are lots of small things about him, certainly: He would read the first two pages of a lot of books when he was younger, he lusts after a fubsy woman, and a girl in darned yellow stockings. He brings up the past offenses of his friend long after the fact, and makes frequent comparisons between himself and Hamlet.

Buck seems smarter than Stephen-- he’s quicker and more articulate. Throughout the first chapter he dismisses Stephen for an “agenbite of inwit,” a “jejune jesuit,” “dogsbody,” and “the bard’s noserag.” He tells him, “I’m hyperborean as much as you.” All of these belittlements seem to imply that Buck disapproves of Stephen’s amour propre, which is humorous when taken into account with his aforementioned traits-- and could warrant an offhanded jibe once in awhile.

Could the reasons for such provocations run deeper, though? Could Buck and Mr. Deasy perceive some glance of Stephen’s as dismissive, or take his daydreaming as a sign of disinterest in them, and feel demeaned? Is their teasing a form of self-assertion?

Or is the reason less understandable? Are they simply cruel, and merely provoke him because he cannot assert himself?