Blooms morning trip to the butcher highlights again Joyce's knack for choosing just the right words to enhance the imagery of a scene. From the moment Bloom approaches the butcher's shop to the moment he walks out, everything is described in terms of hunger, meat, and blood. These are typical images to connect with a butcher's shop, but Joyce applies them to other items as well.
When Bloom looked in the window, "the shiny links packed with forcemeat fed his gaze." The butcher wraps up the woman's purchase "with blotchy fingers, sausagepink." Contemplating the woman's husband and family, Bloom states that she is "new blood." Bloom then begins to picture a cattlemarket, specifically "the breeders... slapping a palm on a ripemeated hindquarter, there's a prime one," just as he lowers his newspaper to watch the woman's skirt swinging "whack by whack by whack." As the woman exits the shop, Bloom wishes to hurry so he can "catch up and walk behind... her moving hams."
Without explicitly stating a connection, Joyce manages to link primal themes of hunger and lust as the former turns into the latter through Bloom's visit to the butcher's shop.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Different Perspectives on Death-Stephan and Bloom
Journal Entry:
As a reflection, In my experiences dealing with death, there is not really a set approach in dealing with it. In this book we see two characters- Stephan and Bloom dealing with death in two different ways. I see Bloom’s point and in retrospect I have thought the same thing, especially in light of a couple of cases in which funeral home owners were posing as caring people to help the loved ones of the dead person but in fact were in the money making aspect of the situation and decided to bury the bodies in a yard instead of expensive burial plots! So it I shard to focus on people as having integrity and thinking that these people are honoring and respecting the dead when in actuality they are thinking of the dollar they will make. It almost makes me sick to my stomach to be honest.
Stephan and Bloom are dealing with death in a sense but from two different perspectives. Stephan is trying to still mourn the death of his mother while Bloom has had a lot of time trying to figure out how to get over the death of his child and father. Who has the brighter vision? Was the question posed in class, I definitely feel that Bloom has the time and energy to take a step back and approach the situation from the outside in, but he still has the negativity towards the situation, so to take a guess I may have to say that Bloom has the brighter vision, only because he seems to be in a better shape than Stephan.
This situation makes me think: every time that I have went to a funeral I did think to myself, how people were going to react if it was me, or how this would change things if this was someone close to me, etc.. To be honest, it has given me nothing to look forward to because I cannot fathom how people deal with such losses. This is why I did not really enjoy this section of the book but could tolerate it.
As a reflection, In my experiences dealing with death, there is not really a set approach in dealing with it. In this book we see two characters- Stephan and Bloom dealing with death in two different ways. I see Bloom’s point and in retrospect I have thought the same thing, especially in light of a couple of cases in which funeral home owners were posing as caring people to help the loved ones of the dead person but in fact were in the money making aspect of the situation and decided to bury the bodies in a yard instead of expensive burial plots! So it I shard to focus on people as having integrity and thinking that these people are honoring and respecting the dead when in actuality they are thinking of the dollar they will make. It almost makes me sick to my stomach to be honest.
Stephan and Bloom are dealing with death in a sense but from two different perspectives. Stephan is trying to still mourn the death of his mother while Bloom has had a lot of time trying to figure out how to get over the death of his child and father. Who has the brighter vision? Was the question posed in class, I definitely feel that Bloom has the time and energy to take a step back and approach the situation from the outside in, but he still has the negativity towards the situation, so to take a guess I may have to say that Bloom has the brighter vision, only because he seems to be in a better shape than Stephan.
This situation makes me think: every time that I have went to a funeral I did think to myself, how people were going to react if it was me, or how this would change things if this was someone close to me, etc.. To be honest, it has given me nothing to look forward to because I cannot fathom how people deal with such losses. This is why I did not really enjoy this section of the book but could tolerate it.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Buck Mulligan
While Stephen spends his time thinking and brooding, Buck appreciates the more physical aspects of life. Buck is described as having an equine (horse-like) face, and details like this and his name suggest that he is more animalistic, more about the primitive and natural than the intellectual. He tries to suggest his name has a Hellenic ring, even though it’s Stephen who has the clearly Greek name. He is sacrilegious and thoroughly irreverent, and while this fact cannot be held against him (Joyce doesn’t seem to be entirely in favor of the Catholic Church), it seems that he is not truly qualified to hold any sort of opinion, due to the fact that he probably hasn’t thought through and understood these ideas that he outwardly rejects.
His appearance recalls the image of a “patron of arts in the middle ages” (1). Like patrons of the arts, he is not involved in the creation of art (as Stephen is), but in the financial, public, more superficial aspects. Interestingly, he refers to Stephen at one time as “Caliban,” the beast-like human who serves under the wizard Prospero in a Shakespearean play (6). While this comparison emphasizes Stephen’s servant-like role, it is also ironic in that the character of Caliban is often seen as a symbol for the wild, natural man (he once attempted to rape his master’s daughter) devoid of art or high intellect.Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Dear Henry...
Episode 5 follows Leopold Bloom around Dublin during his trips to the post office and other assorted errands of the day. Joyce presents Bloom not as a naive husband who stands to be blindly cuckolded by his sensual wife Molly but rather as a dissatisfied married man who entertains his own thoughts of exploring relationships with other women. Bloom’s “affair” with Martha suggests that perhaps the Blooms’ marriage is dissolving as a result of both partners’ boredom and unrest. Bloom attempts to escape from his life with Molly through the creation of a new and more exciting identity, Henry Flower. He participates in erotic communications with a woman he has never met in order to leave the stagnation of his marriage and participate in the possibility of another life that is not his own. He suspects Molly of infidelity due to the “bold” letter from Boylan earlier that morning and yet he engages in similarly upsetting behavior in his letters to Martha.
Although Bloom seeks to escape his marriage with Molly and his life as a married man with little excitement, sexual or otherwise, in his engagement with Martha, he is constantly reminded of his demanding wife throughout the episode. In the end of Martha’s return letter, she asks him, “P.S Do tell me what kind of perfume does your wife use. I want to know” (78). Martha knows about Molly’s existence and brings her up in her letter. Rather than escaping into his sexual banter with a stranger, the woman reminds him of his relationship with Molly and reorients him as an unsated and disgruntled husband.
Although Bloom seeks to escape his marriage with Molly and his life as a married man with little excitement, sexual or otherwise, in his engagement with Martha, he is constantly reminded of his demanding wife throughout the episode. In the end of Martha’s return letter, she asks him, “P.S Do tell me what kind of perfume does your wife use. I want to know” (78). Martha knows about Molly’s existence and brings her up in her letter. Rather than escaping into his sexual banter with a stranger, the woman reminds him of his relationship with Molly and reorients him as an unsated and disgruntled husband.
visual vs. audible
at the start of episode three, stephen wonders about his perceptions of the world. he contemplates the "ineluctable modality of the visible" and the "ineluctable modality of the audible".
stephen uses nebeneinander (side by side) to relate the notion of visual appearances, as a vision is perceived all at once over space. he continues to ponder the sense of sight, noting that we are "aware of them bodies before of them coloured" (37). in other words, we first recognize the presence of body before we register the color of that body. as mentioned in a previous post, joyce pays great attention to the sense of sight, being very careful to relate the specific colors of things. it seems as though nothing is ever "green" or "blue" or "brown", but instead "snotgreen," "froggreen," "smokeblue," and "saltwhite." though colors are already visual concepts, joyce's brings more intensity to these visions of color by describing the color of something with which we are not familiar (e.g. wormwood) in relation to the color of something with which we are familiar (e.g. frog).
stephen uses nacheinander (one after another) to relate the notion of audible sounds, as noises are perceived sequentially over time. he continues to describe the way in which patterns and rhythms emerge from these sequences of noise. joyce also pays great attention to the sense of hearing. in class, we have mentioned joyce's purposeful diction throughout ulysses, and it really seems as if every single word was carefully considered before being chosen for inclusion. as stephen ponders emerging rhythms of sounds, so do these rhythms emerge from joyce's paragraphs. joyce makes constant use of such poetic conventions as alliteration and assonance. i often tend to read aloud, which makes these conventions especially apparent on almost every page, if not in every paragraph.
-[w]: "wavewhite wedded words shimmering on the dim tide" (9).
-[b]: "memories beset his brooding brain" (10).
-[f]: "Two shafts of soft daylight fell across the flagged floor from the high barbicans: and at the meeting of their rays a cloud of coalsmoke and fumes of fried grease floated, turning" (11).
i often find such poetic conventions to come across as forced and annoying, but joyce manages to make them sound effortless (though we know they are not) and tend to the give the text a fitting rhythm.
stephen uses nebeneinander (side by side) to relate the notion of visual appearances, as a vision is perceived all at once over space. he continues to ponder the sense of sight, noting that we are "aware of them bodies before of them coloured" (37). in other words, we first recognize the presence of body before we register the color of that body. as mentioned in a previous post, joyce pays great attention to the sense of sight, being very careful to relate the specific colors of things. it seems as though nothing is ever "green" or "blue" or "brown", but instead "snotgreen," "froggreen," "smokeblue," and "saltwhite." though colors are already visual concepts, joyce's brings more intensity to these visions of color by describing the color of something with which we are not familiar (e.g. wormwood) in relation to the color of something with which we are familiar (e.g. frog).
stephen uses nacheinander (one after another) to relate the notion of audible sounds, as noises are perceived sequentially over time. he continues to describe the way in which patterns and rhythms emerge from these sequences of noise. joyce also pays great attention to the sense of hearing. in class, we have mentioned joyce's purposeful diction throughout ulysses, and it really seems as if every single word was carefully considered before being chosen for inclusion. as stephen ponders emerging rhythms of sounds, so do these rhythms emerge from joyce's paragraphs. joyce makes constant use of such poetic conventions as alliteration and assonance. i often tend to read aloud, which makes these conventions especially apparent on almost every page, if not in every paragraph.
-[w]: "wavewhite wedded words shimmering on the dim tide" (9).
-[b]: "memories beset his brooding brain" (10).
-[f]: "Two shafts of soft daylight fell across the flagged floor from the high barbicans: and at the meeting of their rays a cloud of coalsmoke and fumes of fried grease floated, turning" (11).
i often find such poetic conventions to come across as forced and annoying, but joyce manages to make them sound effortless (though we know they are not) and tend to the give the text a fitting rhythm.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Bad Jew
When Leopold Bloom glances through the newspaper cuttings about land speculation, developing kibbutzim, and the burgeoning Zionist movement, he thinks of Moses Montefiore, a reputable Jewish banker and financer. While this association is somewhat merited given Montefiore’s involvement in developing the Holy Land, the fact that Bloom identifies Zionism with a famous Jew who works with money reflects the prejudices of the Christian society in which he is immersed.
His estrangement from his Jewish identity is further illustrated by a biblical allusion the third-person narrator makes that Bloom doesn’t pick up on. The narrator describes Dlugacz as having “sound meat… like a stallfed heifer” and making a “red grimace” before collecting his payment (59). Completely oblivious to the imagery in front of him, Bloom omments on the “blurred” picture in the newspaper of a “young white heifer” that he can barely see (59). In ancient Jewish practice, a red heifer (unblemished and one color, not actually red) was sacrificed to purify those who have come in contact with a corpse. To Joyce or a well versed biblical scholar, the scene signifies that the butcher’s “stallfed heifer” is unfit to erase his and Bloom’s impurities, while the pure “white heifer” grazing on a farm in the Holy Land meets the requirements perfectly.
His estrangement from his Jewish identity is further illustrated by a biblical allusion the third-person narrator makes that Bloom doesn’t pick up on. The narrator describes Dlugacz as having “sound meat… like a stallfed heifer” and making a “red grimace” before collecting his payment (59). Completely oblivious to the imagery in front of him, Bloom omments on the “blurred” picture in the newspaper of a “young white heifer” that he can barely see (59). In ancient Jewish practice, a red heifer (unblemished and one color, not actually red) was sacrificed to purify those who have come in contact with a corpse. To Joyce or a well versed biblical scholar, the scene signifies that the butcher’s “stallfed heifer” is unfit to erase his and Bloom’s impurities, while the pure “white heifer” grazing on a farm in the Holy Land meets the requirements perfectly.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Reflection
Stephen in Proteus sits on the beach to really contemplate what is going on in his life right now. He remembers the better times (Paris), while also remembering the bad times (his childhood). As Stephen sits on the beach he thinks about heading off to visit his Aunt Sara before he has to go deliver Deasy's letter and meet Mulligan at The Ship. Stephen, being the somber character that he is, imagines the reaction that he would receive upon arriving at the house, and what his father would have said to him for visiting his aunt and uncle. He believes that his father would have mocked him for visiting their house.
One of the themes that is starting to develop with Stephen is that after the loss of his mother he really has nobody left. He does not necessarily have strong feelings towards his father, and what Stephen may be searching for throughout the novel is someone who will have confidence in him and push him to be able to become a successful artist. Stephen for the most part so far seems to be on the verge of depression. Nothing in his life makes him happy, he dislikes Buck for being very critical and attempting to take his lighthouse away. He has almost wasted two years in Paris because he was unable to break out as an artist. Stephen has also lost his mother and received much criticism for not praying by her side on her death bed. As Stephen reflects on the beach at this time, he seems to be in a rut, and what he needs his a father figure, or someone to really support him. Stephen, although a pretty literal and realistic person, seems to be very down on himself. Joyce ends this chapter describing Stephen by him wiping snot on a rock and checking to see if anyone is watching him. The reader is sympathetic and feels pity towards Stephen for all his misfortunes, and their is an obvious need of change if Stephen is ever going to be happy or be successful.
One of the themes that is starting to develop with Stephen is that after the loss of his mother he really has nobody left. He does not necessarily have strong feelings towards his father, and what Stephen may be searching for throughout the novel is someone who will have confidence in him and push him to be able to become a successful artist. Stephen for the most part so far seems to be on the verge of depression. Nothing in his life makes him happy, he dislikes Buck for being very critical and attempting to take his lighthouse away. He has almost wasted two years in Paris because he was unable to break out as an artist. Stephen has also lost his mother and received much criticism for not praying by her side on her death bed. As Stephen reflects on the beach at this time, he seems to be in a rut, and what he needs his a father figure, or someone to really support him. Stephen, although a pretty literal and realistic person, seems to be very down on himself. Joyce ends this chapter describing Stephen by him wiping snot on a rock and checking to see if anyone is watching him. The reader is sympathetic and feels pity towards Stephen for all his misfortunes, and their is an obvious need of change if Stephen is ever going to be happy or be successful.
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