We read as far as "... 14 October 1903." (Penguin 815.13), (Gabler 17.948)
Last week we had seen that both Stephen and Bloom had written a couple of characters of the Irish language and Hebrew language respectively on the blank page of the book, Sweets of Sin, that Bloom had bought and carried in his pocket since the previous afternoon. Now Joyce lists various points of contact that existed between these languages and the people. Of course these are not real points of contact, as these two languages belong to different language families - Hebrew belongs to the Afroasiatic family of languages where as classical Irish is an Indo-European language. Fenius Farsaigh mentioned here as the descendent of Noah and as having taught the two languages exactly 242 years after the Great Flood, is in fact a legendary figure. Fritz Senn stresses here that in this episode nothing can be taken at face value, even if things are presented as being factual. It is also necessary to note that scholars have written many books and articles interpreting the questions raised and answers supplied in this episode.
We were also confronted last week with the eternal question: Is Bloom a jew?
As a response to Stephen's singing earlier the ballad, Suil, suil, suil arun, ... Bloom recites the first two lines from of the poem, Hatikvah (The Hope), the poem by the Jewish poet, Naphtali Herz Imber, written in 1878, which later became the national anthem of Israel (listen here):
Bloom does not remember the entire poem though and ends up summarizing the same. Stephen hears the accumulation of the past history/wisdom in his ancient unfamiliar melody. Bloom sees in Stephen the predestination of future (i.e., the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others; Source: New Oxford American Dictionary). Apart from the biblical overtones, it is possible that Bloom, the eternal father, is searching for an eternal son, and has realized his dreams in Stephen.
Biblical allusions continue. Stephen identifies the figure of Christ in Bloom though Bloom was short in stature (according to the sketch made by Joyce) while Christ was described to be six foot tall. Bloom sees in Stephen - the joy of - suffering (ecstasy of catastrophe).
Bloom encourages Stephen to sing more. He responds, strangely, with a ballad that is anti-semitic in nature. This ballad, popular in the English speaking world, is based on rumors that led to pogroms. (Read the story here and here. Listen to the song here.). What makes Stephen sing such a song in the house of a person who had cared for him and made for him a hot cup of Epp's soluble cocoa in the early hours of the morning? How does Bloom respond? Does he identify himself with the Jew of the ballad? He feels sad, a victim predestined, a Jew. He is confused. Look at the sentence, ' He wished that a tale of the deed should be told... not be told'. He is still, does not raise any objection. Instead he thinks of the possible factors that could lead to or prevent ritualistic murders. And he looks at his own kitchen window, that is unbroken.
The image of the jewish girl recalls to Bloom's mind the image of his daughter, Milly. He thinks of her as a child, as a young girl, as a young woman who had written to him a day earlier that she had met a student in Mullingar. He had not only ribboned her blond hair but had also instructed her whenever opportunities arose, and suitable objects (the owl and the clock he had received as gifts at his wedding) were available. His efforts were rewarded. She remembered and she admired.
Joyce establishes walking as the relationship existing among Bloom, a diambulist, Milly, a somnambulist and Stephen, a noctambulist. The diambulist offers the noctambulist a bed to sleep that night. There is a free room in the house now Milly has moved to Mullingar. In making this proposition, Bloom looks for the company of an intelligent person. He thinks that it could also distract Molly from her affair with Boylan, once she gets to know Stephen. She could also learn from him how to pronounce correctly Italian words such as vorrei e non vorrei, and not say voglio instead of vorrei. Finally it could bring Milly and Stephen together. As Bloom is weaving this web of wishes, Stephen rejects his offer with a monosyllabic negative answer. Instead he (Stephen?) asks whether he (Bloom?) had known the late Mrs Emily Sinico, who was accidentally killed on 14 October 1903. (Mrs. Sinico is the central figure of the story, A Painful Case, in Dubliners, and she is killed accidentally in November. )
Last week we had seen that both Stephen and Bloom had written a couple of characters of the Irish language and Hebrew language respectively on the blank page of the book, Sweets of Sin, that Bloom had bought and carried in his pocket since the previous afternoon. Now Joyce lists various points of contact that existed between these languages and the people. Of course these are not real points of contact, as these two languages belong to different language families - Hebrew belongs to the Afroasiatic family of languages where as classical Irish is an Indo-European language. Fenius Farsaigh mentioned here as the descendent of Noah and as having taught the two languages exactly 242 years after the Great Flood, is in fact a legendary figure. Fritz Senn stresses here that in this episode nothing can be taken at face value, even if things are presented as being factual. It is also necessary to note that scholars have written many books and articles interpreting the questions raised and answers supplied in this episode.
We were also confronted last week with the eternal question: Is Bloom a jew?
As a response to Stephen's singing earlier the ballad, Suil, suil, suil arun, ... Bloom recites the first two lines from of the poem, Hatikvah (The Hope), the poem by the Jewish poet, Naphtali Herz Imber, written in 1878, which later became the national anthem of Israel (listen here):
Bloom does not remember the entire poem though and ends up summarizing the same. Stephen hears the accumulation of the past history/wisdom in his ancient unfamiliar melody. Bloom sees in Stephen the predestination of future (i.e., the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others; Source: New Oxford American Dictionary). Apart from the biblical overtones, it is possible that Bloom, the eternal father, is searching for an eternal son, and has realized his dreams in Stephen. |
| (Source http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35120965 |
 |
| (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Bloom) |
Biblical allusions continue. Stephen identifies the figure of Christ in Bloom though Bloom was short in stature (according to the sketch made by Joyce) while Christ was described to be six foot tall. Bloom sees in Stephen - the joy of - suffering (ecstasy of catastrophe).
Bloom encourages Stephen to sing more. He responds, strangely, with a ballad that is anti-semitic in nature. This ballad, popular in the English speaking world, is based on rumors that led to pogroms. (Read the story here and here. Listen to the song here.). What makes Stephen sing such a song in the house of a person who had cared for him and made for him a hot cup of Epp's soluble cocoa in the early hours of the morning? How does Bloom respond? Does he identify himself with the Jew of the ballad? He feels sad, a victim predestined, a Jew. He is confused. Look at the sentence, ' He wished that a tale of the deed should be told... not be told'. He is still, does not raise any objection. Instead he thinks of the possible factors that could lead to or prevent ritualistic murders. And he looks at his own kitchen window, that is unbroken.
The image of the jewish girl recalls to Bloom's mind the image of his daughter, Milly. He thinks of her as a child, as a young girl, as a young woman who had written to him a day earlier that she had met a student in Mullingar. He had not only ribboned her blond hair but had also instructed her whenever opportunities arose, and suitable objects (the owl and the clock he had received as gifts at his wedding) were available. His efforts were rewarded. She remembered and she admired.
Joyce establishes walking as the relationship existing among Bloom, a diambulist, Milly, a somnambulist and Stephen, a noctambulist. The diambulist offers the noctambulist a bed to sleep that night. There is a free room in the house now Milly has moved to Mullingar. In making this proposition, Bloom looks for the company of an intelligent person. He thinks that it could also distract Molly from her affair with Boylan, once she gets to know Stephen. She could also learn from him how to pronounce correctly Italian words such as vorrei e non vorrei, and not say voglio instead of vorrei. Finally it could bring Milly and Stephen together. As Bloom is weaving this web of wishes, Stephen rejects his offer with a monosyllabic negative answer. Instead he (Stephen?) asks whether he (Bloom?) had known the late Mrs Emily Sinico, who was accidentally killed on 14 October 1903. (Mrs. Sinico is the central figure of the story, A Painful Case, in Dubliners, and she is killed accidentally in November. )
