What strikes me about Bloom, particularly in this chapter, is his preoccupation with other people’s families. His hyperawareness probably stems from the now sterile relationship he has with his own wife and the fact that his only living child doesn’t resemble him. Bloom finds this troubling – that Milly is a “watered-down” version of Molly when it is so easy for him to identify Dedalus’ daughter (“knew her eyes at once from the father”) – a case where there is no doubt about paternity. Through the chapter he goes on to reminisce about when Molly was pregnant and Milly was young and being washed in a tub, which is accompanied by the comment, “Happy. Happier then.”
What also struck me about this chapter was the plethora of common sayings and figures of speech that interject Blooms thoughts – “nature abhors a vacuum,” “mum’s the word,” “proof of the pudding,” “wear out my welcome,” etc.. They seem to wander into his thoughts as he wanders about town – thus perpetuating the wandering and “homeless” theme so closely tied to Bloom’s character. The only time in the Episode when we exit Bloom’s head is when Nosey Flynn’s conversation about Bloom dominates the text. The way Joyce treats Bloom’s interior monologue is somewhat matter-of-factly and distended enough so as to not elicit sympathy from us as readers. Despite the many pages we have spent in Bloom’s head I feel far more empathy and understanding for Steven even tough on the face of it his thoughts seemed more elusive.
2 comments:
It's interesting that you chose to mention Stephen's sister's eyes in your response in reference to paternity as a theme in the text. I connected this more with eyes and sight (or the lack there of) as a whole thusfar, but now I can see, that this along with the various references to birth and family, make a very good case for Bloom's lamentation of certainty. It seems as though it could be a commodity to be bought and sold. It is also interesting that you have more sympathy for Stephen than for Bloom. After this chapter I have to say that Stephen makes more sense as a character and due to the way his character is constructed, however Bloom feels more like the everyman. He covers more ground- more categories: ad man, father, husband, cuckold, Jew, and so on.
I think it is very important to think of Bloom as a "homeless character." This holds a lot of the symbolic ties to the Odyssey. He is always reaching or yearning for something he does not have, or once had. While Odysseus had a clearer goal, reaching home, Bloom's journey is in pursuit of many things. He constantly thinks of return to a sexual life with Molly. Also he grapples with his Jewish heritage, frequently bringing it up in relation to what is going on around him.
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