Stopped at "How did these beliefs and practices now appear to him?". Gabler (17.1902), Penguin (853.29)
Bloom is still occupied with thoughts of how to acquire the vast sum of money that he would need for his dream-dwelling. Could he acquire some through industrial channels? Reclamation of waste arenary soil as he read that (nay, previous) morning in the prospectus of Agendath Netaim, recycling of not just waste paper but also sewer rodents and human excrement come to his mind as possibilities. Other alternatives are exploitation of hydraulic power, real estate development of the peninsular delta of the North Bull at Dollymount, developing a scheme to connect by tramline the Cattle Market with the quays - a thought that he had indeed already had that morning. See p. 69 -, obtaining the wealth by a gift or bequest... Naturally he conjures up - true to the nature of this chapter - various lists (all the railway lines at various terminal stations in Dublin, names of eminent financiers,...) as he dwells on these various possibilities.
The simple answer to the question as to why Bloom engages at this late hour with this incredible, tangential thought process is that it is his habit, and that such meditations before retiring to bed help him to sleep soundly! It is also said that his final thoughts, before falling asleep, were about designing an unique advertisement, reduced to its simplest and most efficient terms. Something no one can "accuse" Joyce of having tried with this chapter!
Well, time is still not ripe enough to go to bed for Bloom. He opens a drawer, obviously to store the letter by Martha Clifford that he had received that morning. This drawer already contains three more letters from her. (More about these letters at the end of this post!) Among many other things, it is here that a drawing by Milly of her father (with 1 triangular foot!), a couple of faded photographs, a Yuletide card, a box of pennibs, a brooch that had belonged to his mother (it is one of the very few times she makes an appearance in this novel), two erotic postcards obtained from an address in Charing Cross, London, a prospectus of The Wonderworker, the world's greatest remedy for rectal complaints (addressed and sent wrongly to Mrs L. Bloom) are stored.
(Analysis of two paragraphs that follow shows the levels on which Ulysses can be interpreted, based on how one word is understood. The word in question is 'thaumaturgic'. (Quote the textual terms in which the prospectus claimed advantages for this thaumaturgic remedy. Page 850) Combining the statement in the prospectus that using it makes a new man of you, making life worth living together with the question that follows, "Were there testimonials?" this word could be interpreted as something biblical. It could also be interpreted quite trivially, simply as having miraculous or magical powers, i.e., praising it as a potent medicine.)
The second drawer contains many important documents including the birth certificate of Leopold Paula Bloom and an envelope addressed by his father To My Dear Son Leopold.
That Bloom has a feminine middle name, Paula, is worthy of notice. As far as I am aware, the only female name that is used as the middle name of men is/was Marie (Maria). That Bloom's middle name is Paula explains in a way his transformation into a female character in the chapter Circe. Who wouldn't with such a (middle) name!
Seeing the envelope sent to him by his father makes Bloom think of his father, an old man, a widower and Athos, his infirm dog. He also feels a bit of remorse because in his young days he (Bloom) had viewed certain beliefs and practices (of his father) with disrespect. (The dog of Odysseus was Argos. It was so infirm by the time Odysseus finally reached home that all it could do as it saw the master was to wag its tail before dropping dead.)
Now about the three (now four) letters by Martha Clifford which are stored in the first drawer. Why would Bloom store these letters in an apparently unlocked drawer? Would they not be seen by Molly? Does he in fact intend for Molly to discover these letters? Is it because she has seen them that she has little qualms about singing Love's Old Sweet Song with Boylan, wearing long yellow gloves?
Bloom is still occupied with thoughts of how to acquire the vast sum of money that he would need for his dream-dwelling. Could he acquire some through industrial channels? Reclamation of waste arenary soil as he read that (nay, previous) morning in the prospectus of Agendath Netaim, recycling of not just waste paper but also sewer rodents and human excrement come to his mind as possibilities. Other alternatives are exploitation of hydraulic power, real estate development of the peninsular delta of the North Bull at Dollymount, developing a scheme to connect by tramline the Cattle Market with the quays - a thought that he had indeed already had that morning. See p. 69 -, obtaining the wealth by a gift or bequest... Naturally he conjures up - true to the nature of this chapter - various lists (all the railway lines at various terminal stations in Dublin, names of eminent financiers,...) as he dwells on these various possibilities.
The simple answer to the question as to why Bloom engages at this late hour with this incredible, tangential thought process is that it is his habit, and that such meditations before retiring to bed help him to sleep soundly! It is also said that his final thoughts, before falling asleep, were about designing an unique advertisement, reduced to its simplest and most efficient terms. Something no one can "accuse" Joyce of having tried with this chapter!
Well, time is still not ripe enough to go to bed for Bloom. He opens a drawer, obviously to store the letter by Martha Clifford that he had received that morning. This drawer already contains three more letters from her. (More about these letters at the end of this post!) Among many other things, it is here that a drawing by Milly of her father (with 1 triangular foot!), a couple of faded photographs, a Yuletide card, a box of pennibs, a brooch that had belonged to his mother (it is one of the very few times she makes an appearance in this novel), two erotic postcards obtained from an address in Charing Cross, London, a prospectus of The Wonderworker, the world's greatest remedy for rectal complaints (addressed and sent wrongly to Mrs L. Bloom) are stored.
(Analysis of two paragraphs that follow shows the levels on which Ulysses can be interpreted, based on how one word is understood. The word in question is 'thaumaturgic'. (Quote the textual terms in which the prospectus claimed advantages for this thaumaturgic remedy. Page 850) Combining the statement in the prospectus that using it makes a new man of you, making life worth living together with the question that follows, "Were there testimonials?" this word could be interpreted as something biblical. It could also be interpreted quite trivially, simply as having miraculous or magical powers, i.e., praising it as a potent medicine.)
The second drawer contains many important documents including the birth certificate of Leopold Paula Bloom and an envelope addressed by his father To My Dear Son Leopold.
That Bloom has a feminine middle name, Paula, is worthy of notice. As far as I am aware, the only female name that is used as the middle name of men is/was Marie (Maria). That Bloom's middle name is Paula explains in a way his transformation into a female character in the chapter Circe. Who wouldn't with such a (middle) name!
Seeing the envelope sent to him by his father makes Bloom think of his father, an old man, a widower and Athos, his infirm dog. He also feels a bit of remorse because in his young days he (Bloom) had viewed certain beliefs and practices (of his father) with disrespect. (The dog of Odysseus was Argos. It was so infirm by the time Odysseus finally reached home that all it could do as it saw the master was to wag its tail before dropping dead.)
Now about the three (now four) letters by Martha Clifford which are stored in the first drawer. Why would Bloom store these letters in an apparently unlocked drawer? Would they not be seen by Molly? Does he in fact intend for Molly to discover these letters? Is it because she has seen them that she has little qualms about singing Love's Old Sweet Song with Boylan, wearing long yellow gloves?
