Zbarskaya 1 Regina Zbarskaya Ms.

Nichole Wilson AP Literature and Composition 14 April 2014 Prose Passage Analysis #1 James Joyces writing style was characteristic for its composition primarily as interior monologue, allowing the reader to enter into the mind of the characters. Joyce particularly excelled in manipulating the interior monologue to establish the perspective of different characters. In Ulysses, James Joyce establishes Stephen Dedalus as a lost individual and Buck Mulligan as his mocking roommate through the use of allusion, diction and juxtaposition and ironically portrays the complex father-son type relationship between the two. Joyce first establishes Dedalus as a pitifully depressed and meek individual through the use of disheartening diction. Dedalus mentally admits to having growing fear of Mulligans friend, and then proceeds to suffer at the hands of Mulligan without saying a word (Ulysses, 4). Whenever Dedalus does speak, he does so gloomily or quietly (Ulysses, 4). Through his quiet demeanor and mental confession he is established as submissive to Mulligan. Dedalus is further characterized by his absurd name alluding to the tale of the Greek Daedalus; the father of Icarus and the intellect that was locked in a tower to prevent his spread of knowledge (Ulysses, 4). The allusion establishes Dedalus intelligence as well as his trapped psychological state of mind. Buck Mulligan, on the other hand, is established as dominant, pompous and cruel through the juxtaposition of loud, happy laughter with cruel suggestions. Buck Mulligan loudly declares Dedalus an absurd name to Dedalus face while laughing to himself and then asks Dedalus if

Zbarskaya 2 he will join Mulligan on a trip to Athens if Mulligan can force his aunt to fork out twenty quid before laughing with delight again (Ulysses, 3-4). Mulligan jumps from cruel comment to laughter in nearly a second without apologizing or passing his comment off as a joke; instead he laughs at the pain he inflicts upon others. He is also established as self-absorbed through his focus on shaving and carefree attitude towards the feelings of others. He shaved with care, in silence, seriously, taking extreme precaution and focusing his attention on himself, but he was able to make snide comments about his roommate readily, including how dreadful he was (Ulysses, 4-5). Finally, Mulligan establishes himself as dominant over Dedalus by his actions towards him; he pulled out Dedalus handkerchief without his permission and held it up on show by its corner before wiping his razorblade neatly upon its surface (Ulysses, 4). He demonstrates his power over Dedalus through the taking of his property without any word of objection from Dedalus. This dominant-submissive relationship is the manifestation of a father-son relationship, just twisted slightly in the wrong direction. Dedalus yearns for a father figure, following Mulligan from room to room and watching him still, frozen in place (Ulysses, 4). He is seeking for someone to fulfill the vacancy in the father spot in his life and is trying to fit Mulligan into that role. It explains why Dedalus is content with playing the submissive part in his relationship with Mulligan. Yet Mulligan does not fit into the role Dedalus established for him, particularly because of his rude comments to Dedalus that hurt his feelings. At one point, Mulligan attacks Dedalus actions, deeming that Dedalus could have knelt down, damn it, when his dying mother asked him to (Ulysses, 5). The use of the expletive further adds to the hurt caused by Mulligans words. The problem of not being able to fit Mulligan into the position he created causes the mental ensnarement mentioned previously.

Zbarskaya 3 At the same time, Mulligan too is yearning for a son substitute, wishing to spread his knowledge upon someone else. He tells Dedalus about the Greeks and decides he must teach Dedalus about them, going even as far as to tell him he must read them in the original (Ulysses, 5). Mulligan further exhibits a father-like attitude when his roommate attacks Dedalus, saying he was not a gentleman (Ulysses, 4). Mulligan bit back with those bloody English bursting with money because he comes from Oxford, exhibiting a protective attitude when he felt Dedalus was being attacked by someone elses words (Ulysses, 4). While Mulligan does exhibit father-like qualities at certain times, he also feels the need to bite at Dedalus himself. Neither Dedalus nor Mulligan get satisfaction out of their relationship, and yet neither want to break the relationship either because of the hope that one day, it might just work. This torn relationship causes turmoil within Dedalus, giving him the feeling of mental entrapment while causing Mulligan to act indecisively towards Dedalus, fluctuating between protectiveness and resentment.