Tuesday, 28 October 2014, Pages 132 - 141, Hades, Episode 6

Stopped at "Just as well to get shut of them as soon as you are sure there's no." (Gabler 6.871) (Penguin 141.6)

The main topic on these pages is the burial of Patrick Dignam, or rather, the musings of Bloom about death, burial, religious service etc.

Bloom follows along with his group the coffin to the burial place. On the way, Corny Kelleher comments on the difference in the service they have just heard to the service in the Irish church, saying, with solemnity: "'I am the resurrection and the life'. That touches a man's inmost heart." Bloom says, 'It does', but thinks that no touching the heart of the fellow in the six feet by two with his toes to the daisies. For, the heart is a pump after all, pumping thousands of gallons of blood every day. One fine day it gets bunged up: and there you are.  I love these thoughts. They make 'death' such a matter of fact happening. Just a pump that gets bunged up one day! Basta! What is there to philosophize about!

Bloom also does not hold much with the thought of resurrection. Because "once you are dead you are dead." No calling 'Come forth, Lazarus' would recall dead people back to life. He thinks of all that remains of a person, after death, is pennyweight of powder in a skull. (A pennyweight is 24 grammes/grains, and is 1/20th part of an ounce.)  If he is thinking of the weight of the soul here, he would be wrong, of course. (The common belief that the soul weighs 21 gm is also wrong as it is based on flawed scientific experiments.)

The group marches to the burial place. It is a strange group, totally unconcerned about the death of Dignam. They tell jokes. They laugh. When John O'Connell, the caretaker of the cemetery, joins the group, Bloom wonders what it means to be the caretaker of a cemetery; "Wonder he had the gumption to propose to any girl. Come out and live in the graveyard..."

At the burial place itself, Bloom's imagination runs riot. He thinks of how the soil would be quite fat with corpsemanure, bones, flesh, nails. The coffin itself makes him think that it does seem a waste of wood. All gnawed through. They could invent a handsome bier with a kind of panel sliding. As the gravediggers lower the coffin and fling heavy clods of clay on to it, Bloom turns his face away, thinking how awful it would be if he (the dead person) was alive all the time. His busy mind suggests all kinds of solutions - pierce the heart to make sure (it has stopped), put a telephone in the coffin, a airhole -   to rescue the supposedly dead person.

Thus Bloom's thoughts on death, burial, the religious service, etc are highly rational. Reading these pages, one cannot help but feel that one knows Bloom very well indeed. The image below shows how Joyce imagined Bloom looks! (It is apparently, the only sketch of Bloom!)

(Source: http://www.geoffwilkins.net/ulysses/images/Bloom.jpg) 

By the way, David Suchet does resemble closely Joyce's sketch in his role as Bloom in the documentary Great Modern Writers! 

Tuesday, 21 October 2014, Pages 123 -132, Hades, Episode 6

We read to "... along a lane of sepulchres." (Penguin 132.8),  Gabler (6.639)

We have followed the carriage ride to its end at Prospect cemetery. The journey has taken the characters from one end of the city to the other (from Newbridge Avenue in the South-East to Glasnevin in the North-West) and they now get off and follow the coffin into the cemetery for the burial.

Bloom is glad to get out of the enclosed space they have been sitting in. He also takes the opportunity to shift the soap from the pocket where it was making him uncomfortable to another (see the quick exchange of soap and newspaper at 6.494): "Change that soap now. Mr Bloom's hand unbuttoned his hip pocket swiftly and transferred the paperstuck soap to his inner handkerchief pocket. He stepped out of the carriage, replacing the newspaper his other hand still held."

Ian Gunn, a Joyce scholar who has been putting together what (for want of a better expression we will call) 'hard facts' about Dublin and things connected with the Blooms and with  7 Eccles Street (e.g. numerous maps, diagrams of their house etc.) has also got a diagram of Bloom's pockets which can be seen online. To see the "Pocket Topography" go to his webpage, which will show you the picture below. Click the individual pockets to see what is in them (choose item of clothing on the bottom, or go by object by choosing from list on the left):

Go to: http://www.harenet.co.uk/no7/pockets/index.html

Generally and most of the time, we get Bloom's view of the scene as something of an outsider (note e.g. the description of the funeral mass and the rituals ("A server bearing a brass bucket with something in it came out through a door." (6.589)), which is not unlike the descriptions of the church service we had in chapter 5 (Lotus Eaters).

Talking of Bloom the outsider and Bloom's perspective, it is also worth noting that, at the same time, it is here that the perspective shifts away from him for the first time in the book. See the following passage, in which we get a brief outside view of Bloom. Cunning and Power are speaking after getting off the carriage (6.525):

All walked after.

Martin Cunningham whispered:
— I was in mortal agony with you talking of suicide before Bloom. -What? Mr Power whispered. How so?
—His father poisoned himself, Martin Cunningham whispered. Had the

Queen's hotel in Ennis. You heard him say he was going to Clare. A nniversary.
— O God! Mr Power whispered. First I heard of it. Poisoned himself?

He glanced behind him to where a face with dark thinking eyes followed towards the cardinal's mausoleum. Speaking.

To end, here is a note for clarification:

6.456: Fogarty is a characters from a shortstory in Dubliners. He is the owner of a grocery shop, whom Tom Kernan hasn't paid yet (therefore, "left him weeping... though lost to sight, to memory dear" acquire an ironic note):

-  How is that? Martin Cunningham said. Left him weeping, I suppose?

-  Though lost to sight, Mr Dedalus said, to memory dear.

6.421: ("Born! Upset. A coffin bumped out on to the road.") is imaginary (it happens only in Bloom's thoughts.

Tuesday, 14 October 2014, Pages 114 - 123, Hades, Episode 6

Stopped at "... Mr Dedalus granted." (Penguin 123. 10),  Gabler (6.414)

Mr Bloom is still rattling along with Martin Cunningham, Mr Power, Simon Dedalus in the creaking carriage to the burial of Paddy Dignam.

They go past many known places (National school, Meade's yard, St. Mark's, Queen's theater, ...) as well as numerous statues & landmarks (Sir Philip Crampton's memorial fountain bust, Smith O'Brien, a statue by Farrell, the hugecloaked Liberator's (aka Parnell's) form, Gray's statue and Nelson's pillar).

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson's_Pillar)    (Source: http://www.joyceimages.com/chapter/6/?page=2)

The sight of the large bill board of Eugene Stratton and Mrs. Bandmann Palmer reminds Bloom of the visit pending that afternoon. He's coming in the afternoon. Her songs. Just as Bloom is thinking of Boylan, a man, wearing a hat by Plasto, passes by. Cunningham and Power say 'How do you do?' Blazes Boylan acknowledges their greetings, and moves on. Bloom looks at (reviews) his nails to avoid looking at Boylan. He (Bloom) thinks of Boylan as the worst man in Dublin. The others know that Boylan is arranging a concert with Molly, Bloom's wife. Though Bloom answers their questions about the concert, he is preoccupied with what would be happening at home right then, with the picture of Molly and her singing, Vorrei e non.... (At first Bloom makes a mistake in recalling the famous aria from Don Giovanni as Voglio e non Vorrei, but corrects himself immediately.)

It is not only of Molly that Bloom thinks of. Mr. Power's referring to Molly as Madame, makes him wonder whether it is true about the woman he (Mr. Power) keeps. Later he thinks of Martin Cunningham's awful drunkard of a wife, who was leading him (Cunningham) the life of the damned. 

Bloom tries telling a story, an awfully good one that's going the rounds about Reuben J and the son. Unfortunately he is not a great storyteller. To add to that he is interrupted continuously by others. They all knew the story of Reuben J's son jumped into the Liffy and was saved by a boatman. There is laughter in the carriage for a while till Martin Cunningham reminds them that they better look a little serious as they are, after all, on the way to a burial. The talk then moves to the unexpected death of Dignam with Bloom declaring that the sudden death was in fact the best death. There is silence in the carriage. Bloom defends his words by saying, "No suffering, .. A moment and all is over. Like dying in sleep." Still no-one spoke.

Round the Rotunda corner, a tiny coffin goes by reminding Bloom of Rudy's death. While Simon Dedalus thinks that it's well out of it, Mr. Power declares that the worst of all is the man who takes his own life. Though he does not know that Bloom's father had committed suicide, Cunningham knows this and says, "It is not for us to judge." Bloom thinks of the suicide, the inquest, the evidence given by the Boots boy from the hotel, and the letter addressed as For my son Leopold. 

As the carriage comes to stop, because of a drove of branded cattle passing by, Bloom comes up with some ideas of what the corporation could do so that such traffic jams do not occur: run a tramline from the park gate to the quays, ... all those animals could be taken in trucks down to the boats (to be sent to England); to have a municipal funeral trams like they have in Milan. It would be more decent than galloping two abreast. Mr. Dedalus granted that there's something in that.

Joyce hints at a number of songs on these pages: Rattle his bones over the stones. He is only a pauper, whom nobody owns. (Penguin 120.6); Has anybody here seen Kelly? Kay ee double ell wy. (Penguin 121.29) 

Tuesday, 7 October 2014, Pages 107 - 114, Hades, Episode 6

"Before my patience are exhausted." is where we stopped today. (Penguin 114.4), Gabler (6.170)

So we started Hades, episode 6. In the Greek mythology, Hades has come to mean the abode of the dead. In Homer's Odysseus, Hades is written about in the books 11 (in which Odysseus makes an offer of blood to summon ghosts)  and 24 (where the passage of souls led by Hermes to Hades is described). Joyce's Ulysses does not describe any such bloody ritual, and Bloom, the protagonist of the novel, accompanies, almost as an outsider, a group of mourners (there is no question of his leading them) to the funeral of Dignam. This episode describes how this group consisting of Martin Cunningham, Mr. Power, Simon Dedalus and Mr. Bloom travel in a creaking carriage as part of a procession of carriages through Dublin to the Prospect Cemetery where Dignam is to be buried.

(Source: http://www.joyceimages.com/chapter/6/)

Already at the beginning of the episode we are given ample opportunity to feel the outsiderness of Bloom. We also act as participants to the various thoughts fleeting through Bloom's mind. As the episode deals with death, with funeral, it is interesting to spot all those words and phrases which Joyce uses in this episode to hint at death and decay.

In the first couple of pages, the characters of the people in this particular carriage are well developed: Simon Dedalus (father of Stephen) comes across as a bit pompous, temperamental, noisy selfwilled. He takes off in anger about Buck Mulligan, forgetting that he is in a funeral carriage. Martin Cunningham comes across as a gentleman, one who tries his best not to ruffle feathers of others. Bloom's endearing character becomes clear in the polite manner in which he waits to get into the carriage till the others have got in. He remains an outsider in this group despite his efforts to contribute to the conversation that goes on. All that we come to know of Mr. Power is that he has a mild face (110.20). Finally what is interesting in the pages we read today is the fact how little the 'friends' going to the funeral really 'care' for the death of Dignam.

Bloom's thoughts are mainly reactions to what he sees on the way, to what he hears from his fellow travelers. As he sees an old woman peeping out, dragging aside lowered blinds, he thinks of how it is women who dress corpses. When he witnesses the ranting of Simon Dedalus about Buck Mulligan, he does not judge him because he understands what a son could mean to a father, thinking of his own son Rudy, who had died just 11 days old. Bloom is still mourning the death of his son. (If little Rudy had lived. See him grow up. Hear his voice in the house. ... My son. Me in his eyes.) Thinking of Rudy,  Bloom recalls the incidence leading up to the conceivement of Rudy, and he thinks of his daughter Milly, who is like Molly, just the same thing watered down. Seeing the Dogs' home on Grand Canal Quay, Bloom thinks of poor old Athos*, his father's faithful dog. His father had left a note before he committed suicide saying "Be good to Athos, Leopold,..."

Going through the obituary notes in the newspaper he comes across the words '... dear Henry...' in a poem accompanying one of the death notices. These words make him wonder where he put the letter from Martha after he read it in the bath. (Martha knows him only as Henry Flower, has addressed him as 'Dear Henry' in her letter.) He patted his waistcoat pocket. There all right. Some words from Martha's letter come back to him: "Henry dear, do not deny my request before my patience are exhausted".  Perhaps Bloom recalls this particular sentence because of the wrong grammar!  ... are ... indeed!

* The name of Odysseus's dog is Argos.

Of interest: The Boston College Guide to Ulysses offers a google map which one can use to follow the meanderings of Bloom through Dublin. Perhaps it will inspire us to make a trip to Dublin!

Tuesday, 30 September 2014, Pages 100 - 107, Lotus-eaters, Episode 5

Tonight we completed episode 5, which ends on "a languid floating flower" (Gabler 5.572) (Penguin p. 100).

We have accompanied Bloom from the postoffice, where he picked up the letter from his secret correspondent Martha, on his way to a Turkish bath (the one in Dublin which Bloom would have used is no longer there). The chapter reads relatively easily, it is pervaded by a sense of drowsiness, leisure and comfort (escapism maybe). Bloom seems withdrawn, doesn't want to meet anyone in the streets, is very much aware of smells, of himself and of his body. The lingo of advertising too is in his mind, e.g. phrases like "Good morning, have you used Pear's soap?" (5.524) come back to him, which was a well-known slogan at the time.

The prominence of advertising seems to the point, since it too produces drowsiness and a certain lull if it is successful.

A few closing remarks on the end of this episode: Its last paragraph seems odd. It is written in a different style from what we have come to recognize as Bloom's. The words are that of a priest at mass: e.g. "laved" is an unusual word to refer to 'wash'. From the Latin "lavare", it belongs to the register of elevated language and is used to refer to ritual purposes (not that Bloom needs to be aware of this). Then, "womb" suggests warmth and going back to a (presumably) comfortable place. For a basic reading of the closing paragraph, though, let us note the following: it must be Bloom imagining the bath he is going to take (it is not actually happening yet), where he will be lying watching his body ("lemonyellow", like the lemon soap he bought at Sweny's) and his navel, his genitals floating like a flower in the water. (Note that Stephen too thought about naval cords, albeit imaginary ones. Indeed, often what is imaginary when seen through Stephen's eyes is very physical through Bloom's.) Bloom's looking at his own navel and genitals, his use of the name "Flower" to sign letters and the episode's general awareness of scents and smells are only a few of the elements that underline its quiet, forgetful, narcotic, solitary, and rather self-centered mood (Fritz Senn even called it "narcissistic").