What Did James Joyce Mean When He Wrote Ulysses Anyway ? Part IV
exemplifies the subtle humor of Joyce, portrays hsi broad use of syntex, mythology, and ancient traditions; while establishing another reason for the writings of Joyce being held in such a high regard of valued esteem. This scene also allows the reader to observe the mind of Joyce at work; as he encounters a problem with using the technique of the stream of conscousness narrative. One problem with delving inside the mind of a character is that an author must switch the flow of this description from one character to another. Expression of the form of ever-flowing thought from the perspective was not enough for the scope of the grand epic that Joyce was proposing. He had to switch between characters; describing in almost perfect detail the thoughts of one character, such as Stephen Dadelus, for example, and then changing that perspective to encompass the thoughts and ideas of another character. In this instance, the character was Buck Mulligan, but it may have been Harold Bloom, or any of the other numerous characters contained in the epic narrative of Ulysses. Joyce not only had to create a flowing mirage of thoughts for one character, but he had to create this flow for a multitude of characters, and he had to complete the transition of this flow in a smooth, orderly, coherent manner without losing the reader in a mixture of syntex dangling beneath a mist of collequial expressionism and Irish symbolic allegorism. Joyce had to completely remove himself from the pages of the text, enter the relative perspective of an imaginary character, while viewing the entire tapestry of the occurrances happening in Dublin on one day in June. To capture the whole of this display without slipping into phrases and sentences wrapped around the cliche would be a monumental task for any writer; but to accomplish this while producing an epic narrative on the scale of a work that Voltaire, Fielding, or Homer might create is an astounding achievement, exemplifying the power and depth of this literary mind working to transgress the boundaries of the cultural story-line narrative. The author dances around these difficulties with the ease of a trapeze artist crossing a difficult chasm with strong and effective dialogue.
With dialogue Joyce was able to suggest a flow of words from one character to the next, without breaking this stream of conscousness technique. He was also able to introduce key words in the text, while retaining the totalality of the narrative form. This framework was essential for the novel of Ulysses to operate on a functional scale; and scenes such as the one described exemplify the mind of Joyce in
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