EUMAEUS

Stephen and Bloom’s encounter with the “redbearded sailor’ is a particularly intriguing moment in the Eumaeus episode. Moments preceding their interaction Stephen ponders, “what’s in a name” and that names are imposters, consequently it is the first thing the sailor asks Stephen. Stephen replies with his surname, which the sailor recognizes as belonging to Simon as well. However Stephen does not reveal that he is Simon’s son. This withholding of information reminds me of the way Odysseus conceals his identity while testing Eumaeus’ loyalty. Stephen, I think was perceptive enough to see that Murphy was an imposter and full of windy stories and therefore did not encourage him by revealing his true identity. Bloom is baffled by this but soon too realizes this through his characteristic empathy.

This idea of imposter runs throughout the entire chapter and is most evident in the voice of the narrator. It is quite different than the voice we have heard before in that it is overly descriptive to the point of falsity and does not seem to know the characters well – especially Bloom. In reference to Bloom he writes, “He was at heart a born adventurer though by a trick of fate he had consistently remained a landlubber…” Knowing Bloom, an adventurer is probably the last thing one would choose to characterize him as, his thoughts being far more adventurous than his actions.