|
|
|
|
|
Gillen continues: Good day to all (or good evening or night wherever you may be), Re: *gnomon* -- besides its Euclidian meaning it also means an object that casts a shadow, such as the upright in a sundial, & by extrapolation, an indicator. Also (in my Shorter OED, last meaning), "A rule, a canon of belief or action." *Gnome*, which is a more common but related word that a boy might tumble around in his brain if he were that kind of boy (& bets are on that Joyce was), also has two distinct entries in OED. One (the first given, though less common to me) is derived from the Greek for thought, judgement, etc-- and means "a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth; a maxim, an aphorism. The second is the more familiar (to me) "member of a legendary subterranean race of diminutive beings." And a *gnomist* is a poet or writer! (OED) I think this word may have echoes of all these meanings in the boy's mind -- something buried, or mysteriously understood that points a way. A sign "seen through a glass darkly," (& perhaps even the writing or recording of all this). Just guesses. I am reading the same way Chandra says she began, though soon I'll dip into a couple of studies I just acquired. I do love the words, but at first reading many go right by as I sense the gestalt of the story (to me, again.) Re *simony* and the purchasing of favors being a sin: I think the indulgences against which Martin Luther posted his objections were going fairly directly into the pockets and/or bellies of the priests of the day! But the Catholic church, and many, if not all religions, still ENCOURAGE "offerings:" -- tithing, lighting candles, putting money in the collection plate at church, sending bangles to Chaumundi, bargaining with God in various ways (Oh lord if only you will do this one thing for me, I will be good forever, devoted to you forever), dedicating a pew or even a chapel or church as thanks for some boon granted, as C mentioned, even practicing the giving of alms to the poor as a religious duty performed to please God & win salvation for oneself, and so forth. The mystics would say that these are all the subsitute "treasures" we offer to God instead of the REAL treasure that is buried in our hearts which we cant even find! So *simony*, to take the deeper meaning, could refer outwards to all the inauthentic acts, the insincerities and following of strictures that have hamstrung most of Joyce's Dubliners (from as much as I can tell from the few stories I have read so far.) But the foregoing is a lot of baggage to hang on two little words! Best Gillen Just a quick question, Gillen. Why don't you like the idea that Father Flynn was teaching the boy Euclideangeometry ;-)? Chandra Well, SOMEONE was teaching geometry to the boy, because he says "like gnomon in the Euclid," but in that sentence he is rolling over in his mind the strange sounds (and by implications the strange meanings) of *paralysis*, *simony* and *gnomon*, and going back to your own commentary (and everyone else's, too) on this first story, it seems as though whatever the old priest was teaching the boy was more mysterious and possibly sinister than geometry. Can't imagine the dark hints and implications to be only about theorems and mathematical proofs. Actually, I thought the ideas you (Chandra) put forth way back in the beginning about the priest having somehow conveyed to the boy his own cracked faith and a sense of the emptiness of the church were inspired and fit well with the discussion of the words -- if simony represents a larger inauthenticity than its strictly ecclesiastical meaning, and gnomon represents a mysterious sign pointing the way to something, then the priest himself may be a gnomon of the disillusionment that will separate the boy from his innocence and/or from the general mores and tenor of the society around him.( I went back to reread all that early commentary -- though I haven't got to all the posts in between ). Also, just a day or so ago, you quoted Brown as saying (whatever we are to make of *gnomon*), or words to that effect, which seems an unlikely comment if the word were being used strictly in its denotational mathematical sense. It's possible, of course, that it implies *collapse*, as when one parallelogram has been removed from a larger one -- but geometry was never my bag, so I prefer sundials and shadows and ominous markers! Anyway, I'm guessing that one thing we can all agree on re Joyce is that his writing is not strictly linear as in A-follows-B-follows-C-and-causes-D but is full of "grace notes" that can lead to many interpretations and layers of meaning. Best. cj gillen PS In going back I noticed the reference to the yellow teeth of the priest, a descriptive that comes up again in "An Encounter" where the unsavory stranger who exhibits prurient interests in the boys is also described as having "great gaps in his mouth between his yellow teeth." This comes right before the first probe by the stranger into the boys' romanitc interests. "Dirty talk" from a dirty mouth or something like that. It's hard not to feel that there was a current of sexual interest on the part of the old priest towards the boy, too, and that the boy would have been at least subliminally aware of this, hence some of his feelings of awkwardness about betraying any feelings when the old man was talked about, and also, perhaps, his sense of freedom and relief when the old man dies. But I digress and cover old ground that you have traversed long ago! --cjg |
|
|
|
|