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Stephen Dedalus: The moody, brooding, sensitive and serious Stephen Dedalus ofcourse shows all that bothers him (Joyce) in the first few pages. He wants to be free of the church, but is very much aware of its presence in his life, and therefore,I feel, is not free of its bonds. He is not free of the image of his mother's death and by attaching so much importance to his refusing to kneel at her death side, he underscores how chained he still is. He is still in mourning - "I can't wear them if they are grey." I am a bit surprised at the importance attached to these external things. One explanation could be that Stephen is still growing up. This section also shows that Stephen has lost hopes of getting any sustenance from either Ireland or England. "I see little hope, Stephen said, from her or from him." (Page 19) It is not only monetary kind of sustenance which he means, though he refers in this sentence to money. Stephen's mother is very present in this chapter though she is dead. She is the symbol of all the chains that bind Stephen. The old woman symbolises Ireland. David Fuller is the one who made it clear to me though I felt from the beginning that the old woman is very important. I am a bit surprised at the use of the old woman as a symbol of Ireland. Our Mother india is always shown young, rosy cheeked and plump, though she also has been raped enough number of times in her history. The old woman has deteriorated to the extent that she cannot even speak (and recognise) her own language. "I'm told that it's a grand language by them that knows" (page 16) means that people who know what Ireland was, know how grand it was. The 'inanimate' actors: The church: Is very present in this section, from the very first sentence. As said earlier it is extremely important in Stephen's life. I have to reread the paragraph describing the early history of the church (Pages 24/25) but there is lots of info in that paragraph. The tower: The tower plays two important roles in this section. First of all it is used to represent the church. It is on its terrace that Mulligan gives his sermon at the beginning. Its gunrest is like the pulpit which the priest climbs up to address his sheep. It also reminds Haines of Elsinore and thus brings Hamlet into the picture. Hamlet is used here to come to terms with another of Joyce's preoccuptions - the relationship between the father and the son. The image father-son is used in two different ways - once with respect to Hamlet and at other times to talk about THE father and son - God and Jesus, i.e., the church. The nick name, Kinch: Kinch / Knife blade is the nick name given to Stephen by Buck. The idea, I guess, is to show that it is Stephen who will cut away at the roots of tradition, at self-deception, etc. Well, that has been a long message. Please add, modify, as you please fit. Looking forward to your mails Chandra |