The reading stopped at ". . . flabbergasted." (12.337)
Summary:
In the pub they find the citizen sitting with a sheaf of papers, waiting for someone to buy him a drink. A rather fearsome looking dog called Garryowen is sitting at his feet. The citizen is said to be working for the cause (12.123), which could refer to the revival of Irish culture or to Irish independence. The citizen, a rather narrow minded nationalist, has been modeled by Joyce on Michael Cusack (1847-1907), founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association, dedicated to the revival of Irish sports such as hurling, Gaelic football and handball. The Irish Revival was very topical at the time the story of Ulysses is set at. Joyce describes the citizen as a sort of prehistoric Irish warrior. He is said to be adorned with tribal figures mentioned in a list of Irish heroes some genuine, some fake, the list finally growing completely out of proportion. Joyce's description here obviously owes a debt of ‘gigantism’ to Homer’s description of Polyphemus, one of the Cyclopes in Odyssey (Gifford, 12.151-205).
Even the language becomes at times rather violent, reminiscent of the big uncouth giants of Homer. It drifts into parodies. Sometimes adjectives are piled up, the language becomes cumulative, hyperbolic, bordering on being kitschy. In short, Joyce's technique here is gigantic; everything is elaborated, exaggerated.
In Kiernan's pub, Joe Hynes and the anonymous narrator are being served by Terry. Hynes pays for the pints with a sovereign that he says was given to him by Bloom, referring to him as the prudent member (12.211), hinting that Bloom could be a Freemason. The citizen is busy reading birth, marriage and death notices in the “old woman of Prince's street” (the Freeman's Journal). His dog, old Garryowen, bares its teeth, growling now and then, and gets kicked in its ribs as a reward. Bob Doran (a character we know from the story, The Boarding House, in Dubliners) is sitting in a corner in a stupor, snoring drunk blind to the world (12.251).
This group of pub visitors is joined soon by Alf Bergan, who is doubling up with laughter, remembering how Mr. Breen was upset because he had received that morning the card on which it was written U. p: up.
