Thursday 5 March 2020

Tuesday, 3 March 2020 (6.543)


The last reading stopped at: “laugh at him now” (6.543)

Mr Bloom, Martin Cunningaham, Simon Dedalus and Mr Power travel in a creaking carriage to the funeral of Patrick Dignam. Bloom tries often to make conversation. He starts telling the awfully good one about Reuben J and the son. But everybody in the carriage already knows that story. Anyway this leads to the topic of death, to committing suicide, ... Martin Cunningham tries to stop others expressing their opinions about suicidal death as he knows that Bloom's father had taken his own life. Realising this, Bloom is grateful to Cunningham. Seeing a tiny coffin passing by, Bloom is once again reminded of his son, Rudy, who did not live long after birth.
After passing the statue of the hugecloaked Liberator (Daniel O'Connell) and Nelson's pillar, after coming to a temporary halt because of a herd of cattle being driven, and passing again the stonecutter's yard, the house where Samuel Childs was murdered, the group finally reach the cemetery. While getting down from the carriage, Bloom manages to move the soap from his hip pocket to the inner pocket. They enter the gates of the cemetery making small talk.

(Summarized from the book, Ulysses for the Uninitiated.)

Statue of Daniel O'Connell