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Page 6 The Carolina Journal, February 5, 1969
U 1 IIW ^ -7
Joyce’s ULYSSES Can Come To Life
By R. T. Smith
(Ed. note: I have tried to
construct a valid and
interesting guide for the
reader who is assaulting
James Joyce’s ULYSSES for
the first time. I have tried to
make this guide articulate
and broad enough to avoid
criticism from the pillars of
academia, yet, lucid,
pallatable, and brief enough
to satisfy the tastes of the
novetiate. Let me preface
this series by saying that this
capsule guide to ULYSSES is
only one man’s view. I am
not, by any means, trying to
pass it off as THE correct
way to view the book. Of the
many vantage points from
which ULYSSES can be
studied, this one seems to be
a simple enough plan of
attack for the beginner,
although it still leaves many
unexplained paradoxes and
unsolved puzzles that await
further explication. I use the
word "beginner” here rather
than "casual” because if one
must read casually, then he
should avoid Joyce’s works.
It took Joyce seven years to
construct the labyrinthine
microcosm contained in
UL YSSES; he did not expect
that it would be read in three
or four nights and then
returned to the library.
With this framework as a
stepping-off place, the reader
can discover new keys, new
ciphers, new answers )
ULYSSES is a story of men -
and of man. The plot-line is
simple: On June 16th, 1904, a
young poet and intellectual
named Stephen Dedalus leaves his
residence and heads for Dublin.
His day is occupied by drinking,
bantering, and intellectual debate,
spiced with witticisms and
profundities. Leopold Bloom,
whose wife Molly is an adultress,
spends the day running errands for
Molly, trying to solicit
advertisements for a Dublin
newspaper, and enjoying his
sexual fantasies. Stephen,
half-drunk, and Bloom, the
humanitarian well-wisher, meet at
a maturnity hospital late in the
evening. Stephen and a friend
depart for the red-light district of
Dublin, followed by Bloom, who
is worried about the drunken
bard. In Nighttown, the two meet
again in a brothel. Bloom saves
Stephen from being cheated,
assualted, and arrested. Bloom
takes Stephen home with him and
a friendship begins. Stephen
departs soon, leaving Bloom to go
to bed, where Molly awaits her
husband. She asks Leopold about
his day; he lies to her about much
of it; he sleeps; she soliloquizes
about life, sex, and her
relationship to Leopoldas she
drifts off to sleep.
In the eight-hundred pages of
the Vintage edition of ULYSSES
there is much more to the travel^
of Bloom and Stephen, and as
many themes as you care to
enumerate. These can best be
discovered by examining the book
a chapter at a time. First, a little
Gargantuan Classic Can Be Translated
information about Stephen
Dedalus (who is created and
developed in Joyce’s A
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS
A YOUNG MAN) and a little
information concerning the
correspondence between
ULYSSES and homer’s
ODYSSEY will be in order.
Each episode of ULYSSES
corresponds (with one exception)
with an episode in Homer’s epic
of travel and return. The first part
consists of three episodes dealing
with Telemachus, the son of
Odysseus (or, in the Latin,
Ulysses). Telemachus searches for
his lost father and then helps him
to kill Penelope’s suitors. Stephen
Dedalus is Telemachus. The
second part of ULYSSES
corresponds to the “Odyssey”
proper. Odysseus encounters
many hazards and delays in his
voyage back to Ithaca. He
overcomes all of the dangers of
the trip and, with the aid of
Telemachus, destroys the usurpers
who are paying suit to his wife
Penelope. This final part is
entitled the “Nostos.” Odysseus is
played by Leopold Bloom, and
unfaithful Molly is seen in the
role of the faithful Penelope. The
book is full of Greek references
far too numerous to catalogue,
which serve as reminders of the
Odyssey correspondence. There
are other myths of classical origin
in Joyce’s microcosm - the myth
of Daedalus and the Cretan
labyrinth, taken from the fifth
book of Ovid’s METAMOR
PHOSIS; the myth of Satan’s
NON SERVIAM vow and his
expulsion from heaven, from
Milton; the wandering Jew
(Bloom was born a Jew); and the
mythical archetype of the
hero-god, which Steven fulfills.
Stephen Dedalus was educated
in Jesuit schools. He was a
scholarly aestheticist who had not
yet written anything of any real
value. He considered himself an
exile from his home, his country
(he held Irish art in the highest
contempt) and the Catholic
Church (whose dogma and ritual
both fascinated and repulsed
him). His rejection of the Church
was so strong that he refused to
honor his mother’s dying request
to kneel in prayer by her
deathbed. His conscience never
escaped the guilt brought about
by this action. Recently returned
from Paris, (Saint) Stephen
D(a)edalus lives in a round tower
with a blasphemous medical
student named Mulligan. He will
not live with his father and sisters,
who live in Dublin, because he
dislikes his father intensely. It is
important to remember that
Joyce identified with Stephen
almost completely. The characters
in ULYSSES are all modeled on
characters in Joyce’s own life. The
reader must decide for himself
whether Stephen or Bloom is the
real “hero” of the book.
The episode entitled
“Telemachus” focuses on several
themes. It begins with a Catholic
introit and a cross (razor over
mirror), and is permeated
throughout with religious symbols
and references. Theology is the
primary theme of the episode;
both pagan and Christian theology
are treated in a rather ironic
juxtaposition. Malachi (Buck)
Mulligan constantly alludes to
Stephen’s Jesuit education and
Greek name. Mulligan, who is St.
John, Mercury, and Antinous
(Penelope’s chief suitor) is the
first of a series of characters who
have more than one symbolic
reference. He leads a eucharistic
breakfast, sings the blasphemous
Feedback
Mizell “Refutes” Charges
Dear Editor,
Yes, Mr. Editor, the Student
Government is alive and well in
Union B-6, but I am surprised that
you are aware of this fact since
you have not attended a
legislature meeting this year. I do
recall your attending one meeting
last Spring from which you
promptly departed after
apologizing for the farce called
EMFC which appeared in the
newspaper after you took over as
editor. However, your face has
not shown up once since then.
Yet you can sit and write an
editorial stating that the “blind
are trying to cover the eyes of
their fellow members.” Upon
what second hand source do you
base this information, and why
should you accept it without first
investigating it personally? What
have you or any of the students at
UNC-C got to lose by attending
the legislature meetings? Nothing!
Yes there are many possibilities to
be gained from this. Ever
legislature meeting is an OPEN
meeting where visitors are more
than welcome. However, no
matter how much this fact is
publicized, neither the students
nor any of the faculty will take
the time to attend. The legislature
has had only two visitors this
year. Miss Alice Folger and Mr.
Ben Chavis attended a meeting at
which Mr. Chavis addressed the
meeting with a list of grievances.
He was not being granted a
privilege to be allowed to speak
before the legislature, because
ANY student attending UNC-C
may do so. And most
importantly, any student may ask
a legislature member to introduce
an idea for him in the form of a
formal motion. . , j -
Yet it seems that the students
here are content to sit back and
let the legislature members play
mindreaders, trying to
second-guess what useful ideas
may be lurking in the heads of the
students.
But, Mr. Editor, you will reply
that it is the duty of each
legislature member to seek out the
students and ask them for
suggestions. On many occasions I
have done this and invariably they
can never think of anything
concrete. This is such a
tremendous help in finding out
what the students want. Also,
each time I suggest to some
people that they attend a
legislature meeting, the replies
range from “I don’t have the
time” to “I’m not interested in
that legislature stuff.” These
replies come from the so-called
“active” students on campus as
well as from the ones who come
only long enough to attend
classes. These people are difficult
to help!
Having read last week’s
editorial several times, I have
some questions to ask. Why
doesn’t the Student Legislature
have any business allocating
student activity fees? May i ask
whose consensus it is that we did
a poor job? Could this perhaps be
R. T. Smith’s own group of
friends? Personally, I feel the
legislature did as good a job as any
other group could have done.
Also, how can you make such rash
statements as “The legislature
indignantly (and obnoxiously)’’
refused to accept Mr. Billups
recommendation? Since 1 was on
the committee which discussed
this matter, I happen to know
that the memorandum was viewed
from several different angles
before a recommendation to
refuse it was made. The
committee felt it. had a better
solution to suggest. Also, 1 don’t
recall anyone being “indignant”,
and certainly no one was
obnoxious.
Of course 1 realize that you,
Mr. Editor, rely on words
andphrases such as these in order
to add sensation to your
editorials. This has been done by
you before and I must admit that
you had me believing one of your
“sensational” editorials this year
until 1 found out the true facts
behind the situation. 1 believe you
mentioned the blind trying to
cover the eyes of others. This
phrase would seem to be the
number one description of your
own actions.
Actually, no one should be
surprised by the editorial which
appeared last week. The
newspaper has been criticized
several times this year for not
attacking the legislature and other
organizations as has been done in
(Continued on page 8)
Gregorian “Ballad of Joking
Jesus”, Baptises himself, and
continually mocks the quieter
Stephen throughout the episode.
Another important theme is that
of usurpation; Stephen is the heir
(of Odysseus and of Irish art) who
has lost his inheritance to
Antinous and England (played by
Haines, a visiting Englishman
whose nightmares drive Stephen
from his own tower). Stephen’s
dead mother is symbolic of the
Christian concept of God, and
Stephen’s regret at not praying at
her bedside (“agenbite of inwit”)
may be interpreted as regret for
his self-imposed exile from the
church. Although Stephen equates
God with a noise in the street. He
must be an extremely loud noise,
because Stephen’s thoughts often
center around theology. Stephen
would not pray for his dying
mother, yet he will not wear any
color but the black of mourning-
one of many paradoxes in his
character. Since a primary symbol
is the heir, all of the characters of
this episode are young. All but
one. The old milk woman who
brings her wares to the tower in
Ireland personified - she must
leave without collecting her fee;
she is subservient to Haines; and
the milk she sells is not her own,
but a cow’s.
The identification of Stephen
with Hamlet is introduced along
with the theme of “the Son
striving to be atoned with the
Father.” Stephen, by the end of
this episode, can already be seen
as an exile (Mulligan keeps the
key to the tower, although
Stephen pays the rent), a sharp
blade (Buck’s name for Stephen,
“Kinch”, is the onomatopoetic
representation of the cutting
sound of a knife), and a prophet
(the tower is referred to as
“Omphalos”, the navel of the
world - Delphi, origin of the
Apollonian oracle and alleged,
center of the earth). He departs
for his teaching job with a
promise to meet Mulligan and
Haines at The Ship, a tavern, at
11:30 p.m.
The technique of this episode is
narrative, but it is spiced with bits
of dialogue that make it one of
the easiest episodes in the book to
understand. The reader must try
to keep in mind all of the themes
and subtle references mentioned
in this episode, because they will
all reappear later in some form or
another.
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