Ulysses

The narrative switches from Stephen Dedalus to an ad canvasser named Leopold Bloom. At 8:00am, he prepares breakfast for himself and his wife, Molly Bloom. Bending down to feed his cat, he pictures himself from the cat’s point of view. Bloom thinks about purchasing breakfast items from the nearby butcher. Molly mumbles that she does not want anything and Bloom studies their marital bed, a relic from Molly’s upbringing in Gibraltar. She was raised in Gibraltar by Major Tweedy, her father. Before going to the butcher’s, Bloom goes through his routine. He checks his lucky potato and a paper slip that is inside his hat. He reminds himself to make sure he takes his keys from upstairs when he departs for the day. Bloom remembers that the funeral of Paddy Dignam is set to take place on this day. The “happy warmth” (55) of the sun shines on his black clothes. The thought of the weather makes him think of the planet from a celestial perspective, but then he reminds himself that his imagination is not accurate. He passes by O’Rourke’s pub, waving to the landlord but not mentioning the funeral. Bloom wonders how owners of small pubs like O’Rourke can make money as the city has so many of them. As he passes a school, he can hear children reciting the alphabet and the names of places in Ireland.

When he arrives at the butcher shop, Bloom sees that they have one kidney remaining. He hopes that the people in line do not purchase it before he is served. As he waits, he reads the ads in an old newspaper. When he is served, Bloom points to the kidney. He hopes that he can finish the transaction quickly as his eye has been caught by the woman who was served before him, and he imagines the sway of her hips beneath her “crooked skirt” (57). She leaves too quickly, so he entertains himself on the walk home by reading more newspaper ads. Bloom passes by an acquaintance who fails to notice him. At that moment, a cloud begins “to cover the sun” (58). Bloom’s thoughts turn darker. He thinks about the struggles in the Middle East and the travails that have affected his own people, the Jewish people. Bloom resolves to lift his spirits by resuming “those Sandow’s exercises” (59). He walks home, thinking about local real estate and his wife. At home, he checks his mail. He has two letters and a card. One of the letters for Molly, he suspects, is from Blazes Boylan. Bloom suspects that Molly and Blazes are having an affair. The card is from their daughter, Milly, who lives in Mullingar. Molly reads Milly’s card while tucking the suspicious letter “under the dimpled pillow” (61). Meanwhile, Bloom prepares their breakfast and reads through a separate letter from Milly, addressed to him.

Bloom cooks breakfast and brings it to Molly, who asks him to fetch her a book. He does so, wondering whether Molly would be correctly pronouncing the Italian phrase “la ci darem” (61), part of a duet in an opera by Mozart in which she will be singing alongside Blazes. Bloom fetches Molly’s book, a romance novel titled Ruby: the Pride of the Ring. Molly finds a word in the novel—“metempsychosis” (62)—that intrigued her. She asks Bloom to explain its meaning. He delivers a long answer about the word’s etymology but, as Molly’s request, shortens his answer to simply reincarnation. He explains this further by referencing a painting of a nymph that hangs above their bed, as nymphs can be “changed into an animal or a tree” (63). 

Molly smells the kidney burning in the kitchen. Bloom rushes downstairs and saves it just in time, whereupon he sits down to eat his breakfast. While he eats, he reads Milly’s letter again. She thanks him for the birthday gift he sent her and makes a reference to her new boyfriend, Bannon. Bloom thinks about the days when Milly was young. He also remembers his deceased son Rudy, who “would be eleven now if he lived” (64). Milly is now grown into a woman, he thinks, and she is well-aware of her own beauty. In her letter, Milly mentions Blazes Boylan. Bloom envies Boylan’s charm and confidence, wishing he could act in the same way. He wonders whether he should visit Milly. Armed with a copy of Tidbits magazine, he goes to the outdoor toilet behind his house. As he feels the “gentle loosening of his bowels” (65), he reads a story by Philip Beaufoy. The regularity of his bowel movements pleases Bloom. Finishing Beaufoy’s story, he envies the writer’s talent. He wonders whether he could be paid to write, perhaps about Molly’s conversations or “invent a story about a proverb” (67). He tears off part of the magazine to wipe himself clean and remembers to check the timing for Dignam’s funeral. In the distance, the church bells toll and he thinks about the dead man.

Bloom wanders through Dublin to the post office. Dignam’s funeral is at 11:00am, and Bloom studies the people he passes, wondering about their lives. Pausing to study the merchandise in a tea shop, the products in the Belfast and Oriental Tea Company store make him imagine countries in the Far East. Bloom goes to the post office to collect a letter addressed to “Henry Flower, esq.” (69). Henry Flower is a pseudonym that Bloom uses to correspond with anonymous women. Before he can read it, however, he is interrupted by an acquaintance named M’Coy (referred to later in the novel as McCoy). As M’Coy makes small talk about Dignam’s funeral, Bloom thinks about the letter in his pocket. His eye is caught by an attractive woman passing by as M’Coy continues to talk. Just as the woman is about to step into a cab, potentially revealing the skin of her leg, Bloom’s view is blocked by “a heavy tramcar” (71). M’Coy continues to talk while Bloom opens the newspaper. He reads an ad and makes small talk about Molly’s concerts. M’Coy’s own wife wishes to be a singer, just like Molly. The talk of Molly makes Bloom think about the letter to her from Boylan. He does not want to talk about Boylan, who is organizing Molly’s concert tour. M’Coy asks whether Bloom will “put down [his] name” (72) in the funeral register and, as M’Coy leaves, Bloom thinks disparagingly about how poorly M’Coy’s wife sings.

Finally alone, he can read the letter addressed to Henry Flowers. Inside, his pseudonymous correspondent Martha Clifford has included “A yellow flower with flattened petals” (74). They exchange romantic letters, but they have never met. Now, Martha would like to meet in person. She flirtatiously chides Bloom for being a “poor little naughty boy” (74) in his previous letter and asks which perfume his wife prefers. Placing the letter back in his pocket, Bloom knows that he will never meet with Martha. However, he will use even more audacious words in his next letter. He studies the flower pin and wonders why women’s clothing has so many adornments. The thought brings to mind an old song about a woman losing a pin. The names Martha and Mary, so prominent in his life, make him think about the Biblical women who share the same names.

Passing under a railway bridge, Bloom tears up the envelope that contained Martha’s letter. He passes a church and reads the missionary notice outside. Inside, a service is taking place. Bloom is Jewish so, for him, one of the main appeals of a Christian church is the opportunity to sit beside women. Listening, he thinks about the power of the Latin language that “stupefies them first” (77). Sitting in the church, he imagines how someone must feel when they take communion. He thinks about Martha, about her feigned indignity contrasting with her desire to carry out an affair. In a similar way, he thinks, James Carey (though he mistakes the name) was a respectable man who then politically assassinated two senior British government figures in the name of Irish nationalism, then bore witness against his fellow assassins in what became known as the Phoenix Park Murders. Watching the priest clean the wine chalice, Bloom imagines if they served beer or different alcohol alternatives in the communion. As the mass ends, Bloom thinks about the Catholic ritual of confession.

Once the service is over, he tries to leave before donations are collected. After, he must visit Sweny’s chemist to collect a lotion for Molly. However, the recipe for the lotion and his key have been left at home. Inside the chemist, his thoughts turn to “alchemists” (81) and sedatives. The chemist tries to search for Molly’s lotion, while Bloom thinks about his wife’s skin. He wonders whether he has time to bathe before the funeral. Taking a bar of soap, he tells the chemist that he will return later to pay for the lotion and the soap. Outside, he meets Bantam Lyons, who asks to search inside Bloom’s newspaper for information about a horse race. Bloom gives the newspaper to Lyons, claiming that he was “going to throw it away” (82). Lyons mistakes this as an insider tip that he should bet on a horse called Throwaway. He rushes away to place a bet. Bloom does not approve of gambling. He walks toward the public baths, making a professional critique of various advertising notices he sees around the city. Entering the public baths, he greets Hornblower the porter. He can already imagine himself relaxing in the warm water. He imagines his body and his penis like “a languid floating flower” (83).

Bloom takes a carriage to Dignam’s funeral. He shares the carriage with Jack Power, Martin Cunningham, and Simon Dedalus (Stephen’s father). When Bloom spots Simon’s “son and heir” (85) on the street, Simon asks whether Buck Mulligan is with him. He does not approve of Mulligan. Bloom worries that Simon is too overbearing as a father but believes that his parental concern is justified. He hopes he would have been as concerned for Rudy as Simon is for Stephen. As Cunningham describes his previous night in a pub, he pauses to talk about Dan Dawson, a writer for a local newspaper. As Bloom reaches for his newspaper, Simon suggests that this might not be an appropriate moment to read Dawson’s column. Instead, Bloom studies the obituaries. He feels Martha’s letter—without the envelope—nestled in “his waistcoat pocket” (88). He cannot stop thinking about Boylan, who is “coming in the afternoon” (89) to see Molly. At that very moment, he sees Boylan from the window of the carriage. The other passengers call out to Boylan, but Bloom is too flustered to say anything. Looking again at Boylan, he cannot understand why his wife and his friends like the man.

When Power asks Bloom about Molly, his reference to her as “madame” (90) makes Bloom feel uncomfortable. En route to the funeral, they pass a moneylender named Reuben J. Dodd. The passengers curse his name; in the past, they have all borrowed from Dodd. Bloom is the sole exception. He changes the subject, beginning a story about the near-death of Dodd’s child but Cunningham interrupts just as Bloom reaches “the funny part” (91). The men laugh at Cunningham’s joke but then remember the nature of their journey. They reminisce instead about Dignam. Bloom suggests that the quick, painless death of Dignam is “the best death” (92). The other men are Catholics. They disagree with Bloom, as an unexpected death means no opportunity to confess to God before death. Power and Simon agree that suicide is the worst form of death. Bloom says nothing; his own father died by suicide. Cunningham, knowing this about Bloom, suggests that they should take “a charitable view” (93) of such cases. Bloom appreciates his efforts.

A “divided drove of branded cattle” (94) crosses the road, forcing the carriage to stop. Bloom suggests that separate trams should exist for cattle and funerals, which elicits a mixed response. They debate the practicality of a funeral tram, with Cunningham referring to an incident in which a coffin was accidentally dumped into the middle of a road. Bloom’s thoughts are suddenly filled with the image of Dignam “rolling over stiff in the dust” (95). The carriage resumes its journey, passing by a canal. The canal goes to Mullingar, the town where Milly now lives. Bloom thinks again about visiting his daughter. Power points to the place “where Childs was murdered” (96). Arriving at the “paltry funeral” (97), the men exit the carriage. Cunningham lingers behind to tell Power that Bloom’s father “poisoned himself” (98). Meanwhile, Bloom speaks to a man named Tom Kernan about whether Dignam had insurance at the time of his death. A collection is being passed around to help Dignam’s children financially, he is told. Bloom watches Dignam’s sons. The men enter the church. Bloom enters last, observing the unfamiliar Christian ceremony. Priests, to him, seem to live repetitious lives “all the year round” (100). As the funeral ends, the coffin is carried outside.

The funeral procession passes through the churchyard. Simon spots his wife’s grave and breaks down in tears. Bloom thinks about death and its realities. He thinks about organ failure as the undertaker joins his group. Bloom overhears people ask about him, noting that he is referred to as the husband of Molly. The mention of Molly cheers people. A man named Ned Lambert remembers dancing with the “finelooking” (102) Molly once. He cannot imagine why she would marry a man like Leopold Bloom. John O’Connell is the caretaker of the cemetery. He makes a joke, while Bloom wonders how O’Connell’s wife feels about his job. To Bloom, the cemetery seems well-kept. He wonders whether burying bodies vertically would be more practical and whether “corpse manure” (104) fertilizes the nearby soil. O’Connell—a cemetery caretaker telling jokes—reminds Bloom of the “gravediggers in Hamlet” (105). He recognizes and approves of the tradition of not mocking the dead for a period of two years while listening to O’Connell discussing the funerals that will take place the following day. As the people gather around the grave, Bloom worries that he is the 13th attendee, thus making him unlucky. However, he sees a “lankylooking galoot […] in a macintosh” (105). The man in the coat was not in the church, so he must be the 13th attendee, Bloom decides. Bloom already has a cemetery plot. His mother and his son are already buried there. Worrying over the prospect of being buried alive, Bloom imagines “an electric clock or a telephone in the coffin” (107) that could be installed in coffins to prevent this tragedy. Bloom is asked for his full name by the reporter, Hynes. As M’Coy requested, Bloom asks for M’Coy’s name to be recorded as well. Hynes asks Bloom for the identity of the man in the coat, but Bloom does not know. After the gravediggers finish, Bloom wanders through the graveyard. Gravestones seem to him to be a waste of money that could be given to needy, living people. Gravestones also fail to properly explain a person’s identity and life. Soon, Bloom must visit his father’s grave. He spots “an obese grey rat” (110) and imagines it eating a human body. His dark thoughts—ghosts, hell, necrophilia, and the closeness of death—mean that he is pleased to leave the cemetery. Passing a solicitor named John Henry Menton, Bloom comments that Menton’s hat is “a little crushed” (111). Menton ignores him.