REPORT ON JAMES JOYCE'S ULYSSES
EPISODE 12--THE CYCLOPS (292-345)
SUMMARY
It is now 5:00pm on Thursday, June 16, 1904. This scene takes place in Barney Kiernan's pub on Little Britain Street. There is a guest narrator in this scene. According to Don Gifford, " Richard Ellmann remarks that Joyce privately identified the narrator of this episode with Thersites"( 314). This ancient figure was known as an "impudent talker among the Greeks"(Gifford 314). At the start of the scene, the narrator is talking with the other patrons in the pub. They are all drinking and discussing a number of topics. There are probably a dozen men seated in various parts of the pub. Bloom, as usual, makes a fool out of himself in almost every discussion.
The entire episode takes place in Kiernan's pub. The men do little more than drink and talk amongst themselves. Joyce saves all the action for the very end of the episode. After Bloom says to the Citizen "Your God was a jew. Christ was a jew like me"(342), the men find themselves in a heated argument. Bloom makes a break for the exit with the Citizen right behind him. As Bloom drives off, the Citizen hurls a metal tin at Bloom's head.
HOMERIC PARALLELS
In the ninth book of The Odyssey Odysseus and his men find themselves on an island occupied by giant, one-eyed creatures. The Cyclopes, "giants, louts, without a law to bless them"(Gifford 314), spend their days doing what appears to be not much at all. While searching the island, Odysseus and his men are trapped in Polyphemus' cave. The giant instantly devours two of Odysseus' men and imprisons the others "to be eaten at the rate of two a day"(Gifford 314). The second evening is full of feasting and heavy drink. Odysseus proclaims to the giant that he is "Noman" and pours the giant a drink. Polyphemus is inebriated beyond return and passes out. While he is sleeping, Odysseus and his men thrust a flaming olive branch into Polyphemus' eye. Odysseus' men run from the cave with the giant in pursuit. Polyphemus calls out to the other Cyclopes that "Noman" has done this to him. The other giants ridicule him, and Odysseus and his men escape to their ship. From his ship, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus, who hurls a boulder that almost sinks the ship. After his pride causes Odysseus to reveal his name, Polyphemus then calls on his father, Poseidon, to aid him in his quest for revenge. Poseidon honors his son's request and keeps Odysseus away from home as long as destiny allows.
The Citizen plays the role of Polyphemus, and Bloom is cast as Ulysses. The narrator of this scene plays the part of Thersites, the deformed Greek. The men in the pub are the supporting cast and act the part of the rest of the Cyclopes.
Bloom, like Odysseus and his men, finds himself trapped. The men in the pub obviously do not care much for Bloom. Bloom's big mouth and his free expression of his views of the world puts him at odds with the Citizen and the rest of the pub. Bloom rants on and on until the Citizen becomes enraged and lunges at Bloom. Bloom exits Kiernan's pub and heads for the street. The men in the pub attempt to prevent the Citizen from doing any harm to Bloom. As Bloom and his colleagues speed away, the Citizen hurls a metal tin at the car, barely missing Bloom. Instead of Poseidon being asked to continue the chase, the Citizen sends his mangy mutt to pursue Bloom.
ANALYSIS
The organ in this episode, muscle, refers to strength and stability. The primary role of muscles is to provide shape and stability to the skeletal frame. Their secondary function provides pressure to various organs and allows the skeletal frame to move. The most important muscle in the body is the heart. Although the heart was composed in the Hades episode, it gains strength and function in this episode. There is talk throughout of the athletic achievements of fellow Irishmen and the games these men played. The muscle could also be related to the political or religious muscle of the Church and England. In either case, muscle represents one's strength and stability. The formation of muscle not only aids Bloom in his speedy escape, but allows him to stand up to the Citizen and the other men in Kiernan's pub.
Politics plays a huge role in this episode. The men in the pub discuss the politics of Ireland and the rest of the world. Kiernan's pub echoes with discussions concerning the possibility of Russian tyranny, the role of the Church in politics, and the political arguments between pro-Britons and pro-Irish factions. Drink after drink is consumed as the men reflect on the politics of Ireland in the present and the past. Like the Cyclopes, these men are lazy creatures. Instead of attempting to support and push their views, they would rather spend their time drinking at the tavern. Bloom is the only man who differs from this crowd. He vocally proclaims his views and is constantly arguing to support them. As the other men in the pub ignore his arguments, Bloom attempts to support them.
Names also play a significant part in this episode. Joyce provides lists of names of politicians, Irish folk heroes, priests, trees, and athletes and their accomplishments. Parnell, O'Connell, Bob Doran, and Christ make a return visit. Most of the names listed are Irishmen, but other names span the globe. Names like Beethoven, Columbus, and Captain Nemo all find their place in Joyce's various lists. The lists are broken down into categories. One list is a belt of sea stones "graven with rude yet striking art, the tribal images of many Irish heroes and heroines of antiquity"(296) worn by a very "broadshouldered deepchested"(296) man. Unfortunately, whoever carved these names assumed a few too many great men were of Irish decent. Patrick W. Shakespeare and Brian Confucius are included for their Irish heritage. Another is a list of births and marriages in a pro-British paper called The Irish Independent. The Citizen reads aloud from the paper and "passes over the Irishborn"(Gifford 327) reading only the English names in both columns. Joyce also mocks the German language in a list of punned names. Schwanzenbad-Hodenthaler, according to Gifford, means "Penis-in-bath--Inhabitant-of-the-valley-of-testicles"(334).
WORKS CITED
Ellmann, Richard. James Joyce. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1983.
Gifford, Don. Ulysses Annotated. Berkeley: U of California P, 1989.
Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Vintage International, 1990.