REPORT ON JAMES JOYCE'S ULYSSES

EPISODE 16--EUMAEUS (613-655)

The Eumaeus episode takes place after midnight, around 1 a.m. It begins after Bloom pulls Stephen away from a street quarrel and is the first episode in which Bloom and Dedalus are together. On Stephen's "expressed desire for some beverage to drink" (613) Bloom suggests the cabman's shelter, and the two begin their walk to the proposed shack/eating house. Wandering through the dark streets of Dublin, Bloom can not help but think about the many dangers of the nocturnal world, such as "desperadoes" who terrorize "pedestrians by placing a pistol at their head" (616). On one dark street, Stephen is hailed by a figure in the shadows, who he eventually recognizes as Corley, a friend of his father's who is recently "on the rocks" (617). Bloom stands aside while the two talk. Corley tells his "on the rocks" story, and Stephen is moved to give Corley a half crown, "even though this sort of thing went on every other night" (617).

Stephen rejoins Bloom and the two navigate their way to the cabman's shelter, passing by a group of Italians in the midst of a heated conversation in their native tongue. The cabman's shelter is owned by a man nicknamed "skin the goat," who may or may not have been involved in a murder committed years earlier by a radical group named the "invincibles." The shack is occupied by sailors and nocturnal prowlers, as Bloom would most likely call them. One red headed sailor, Murphy, asks Stephen his name and then asks if he knows a Simon Dedalus. "I've heard of him" (623) Stephen replies. The sailor then recounts a story of how Simon once shot two eggs off of the heads of bottles from fifty yards, firing with his left hand. The sailor continues to tell a series of adventures he has been on and explains how he is returning to his wife whom he hasn't "seen for seven years now, sailing about" (624). Bloom dreams of sailing about, establishing a singing tour for Molly, and visiting all of the grand places the world has to offer.

The sailors become engrossed in their conversation. Bloom and Stephen have a discussion about religion and politics, where Stephen once again rejects every notion Bloom offers, from socialism to the reality of the soul. "Skin the goat" then professes to everyone the superiority of Ireland and its people and predicts the "return of Pamell" (648), saying the once great leader isn't really dead, but hidden somewhere, waiting for the proper time to return to Ireland. Eventually Bloom realizes Stephen hasn't eaten in many hours and invites him back to his house for supper. Stephen accepts the invitation, and the two make their way out of the cabman's shelter and back onto the streets.

Eumaeus is the first chapter that describes Odysseus's return to Ithaca. Upon return, the voyager encounters Eumaeus, the most faithful of his former servants. Odysseus takes on the guise of a beggar and tells Eumaeus he is a Cretan and recounts several false tales of adventure as a sailor. Odysseus continues this guise when Telemachus arrives at Eumaeus'shack, freshly home from his unsuccessful journey to find his father. Odysseus reveals his true identity once he is assured of both his son's and his servant's loyalty.

The Homeric roles of Stephen and Bloom and other characters are not consistent throughout the Eumaeus episode. On his voyage home, Telemachus avoids an ambush contrived by his mother's suitors. While walking the streets of Dublin, Bloom is always on the lookout for prowlers waiting in the shadows for innocent pedestrians. Corley plays the role of Odysseus as beggar during the encounter on the street, and Stephen plays Eumaeus. In The Odyssey, Eumaeus gives Odysseus food even though he has "heard [his] tale so many times" (Evslin 133), and Stephen gives Corley food even though he has heard his sad tale "every other night" (617). The Cabman's shelter, of course, "corresponds to the steading of the swineherd Eumaeus" (Gilbert 361). The owner of the shelter, "skin the goat," remains loyal to his lost king, Parnell, just as Eumaeus remained loyal to Odysseus. The false tale Odysseus gives to his servant is told in Ulysses through the sailor who approaches Stephen, as he recounts stories of crocodiles biting "the fluke of an anchor same as I chew that quid" and "maneaters in Peru that eats corpses and the livers of horses" (625). Also pervading through Eumaeus is the idea of the "wanderer home from sea after long absence" (Gilbert 362). This idea is also portrayed through the tale-telling sailor returning to his wife and through "skin the goat's" hopeful "return of Parnell." The end of the episode has Bloom finally deciding to return home to Molly, aware of the possibility of suitors lying in wait, just as in Penelope's house.

Eumaeus "circles back over the political and social emptiness of Dublin" (Goldberg 291). This theme is expressed the same way it is in other works of Joyce; older people talking of better times such as "skin the goat" talking about Parnell. Beyond this recurrent theme, however, the "primary subject of Eumaeus is language as deception" (French 214). This deception is evident throughout the entire chapter on many levels. The sailor's tales are obviously meant to deceive, just as Corley's sad story is meant to deceive. Bloom is in awe of the beauty of the foreign language being spoken by the Italians outside the cabman's shelter. Stephen lets him know that beautiful as the language may be, the foreigners are merely "haggling over money" (622). Stephen continues to say, "sounds are imposters

. . . like names . . . what's in a name?" (622). This line alludes to Romeo and Juliet, but also reinforces the idea of language as deception. One critic, Marilyn French, carries this idea of deception even further, suggesting the "narrative voice is deceptive" (208). French notes the confusing sentence structure in many of the passages, the inability of the two main characters to communicate effectively, and the increase of euphemisms and cliches in this chapter, saying these techniques imply an "avoidance, a concealment or obscurantism" (211) on the narrator's and author's part. This use of narrative technique again suggests the deceptive nature of language.