The Parallel to Homer “Ulysses” is based on Homer’s “Odyssey.” Leopold Bloom is Odysseus. Stephen Dedalus is Telemachus. Molly Bloom is Penelope. The novel has eighteen episodes, corresponding to the eighteen books of the “Odyssey.” The parallel is ironic. Odysseus is a hero. Bloom is a cuckold. Telemachus searches for his father. Stephen searches for a father. Penelope waits for Odysseus. Molly waits for Bloom. The parallel gives the novel structure. It also gives it depth.
Leopold Bloom: The Ordinary Hero Bloom is the novel’s hero. He is not a warrior. He is not a king. He is an advertising canvasser. He eats a gorgonzola sandwich. He attends a funeral. He visits a newspaper office. He walks on the beach. He thinks about his dead son, Rudy. He thinks about his wife’s lover, Blazes Boylan. He masturbates on the beach. He goes to a pub. He is mocked. He goes to a brothel. He rescues Stephen. He brings him home. He makes cocoa. He goes to bed. Bloom is ordinary. He is also heroic.
Stephen Dedalus: The Seeker Stephen is the protagonist of Joyce’s earlier novel, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” He is a writer. He is also a teacher. He is alienated. He refuses to pray at his mother’s deathbed. He is guilty. He is searching for a father. He finds Bloom. They drink together. They walk together. Stephen leaves. He will not stay. He is a wanderer.
Molly Bloom: The Yes The novel ends with Molly’s soliloquy. It is eight sentences. It has no punctuation. It is the most famous passage in modern literature. Molly thinks about her life. She thinks about her lovers. She thinks about Bloom. She thinks about the day he proposed. They were on Howth Head. He asked her to say yes. She says, “and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.” The soliloquy is sexual, funny, and tender. It is the novel’s climax. It is also its conclusion.
The Styles: Why So Difficult? Joyce wanted to write a book that captured the whole of life. He believed that life is not simple. It is complex. It is contradictory. He used different styles to capture different aspects of experience. The “Nausicaa” episode is written in a sentimental romance style. It is ironic. Gerty MacDowell is a sentimental girl. Bloom masturbates while watching her. The style mocks her. It also mocks him. The “Oxen of the Sun” episode parodies the history of English prose. It is difficult. It is also funny. The “Circe” episode is written as a play. It is hallucinatory. Bloom is put on trial. He is tempted. He resists. The styles are not arbitrary. They are necessary.
The Difficulty: Why Read It? “Ulysses” is difficult. It requires patience. It requires rereading. It requires a guide. Many readers give up. Those who persist are rewarded. The reward is not a plot. It is not a moral. It is a world. Joyce created Dublin. He created Bloom. He created Molly. They are alive. The reader knows them. The reader loves them.
Conclusion: “Ulysses” is a novel about one day. It is also a novel about every day. Bloom walks. He thinks. He eats. He goes to bed. The reader walks with him. The reader thinks with him. The reader eats with him. The reader goes to bed. The reader is Bloom. Bloom is the reader.
