Analysis of James Joyces Ulysses - Essay Example

?James Joyce’s Ulysses The oral and printed/written methods within literature influence human mind because literature deals with human life. Within this scenario, James Joyce’s works are important because his works are symbolic of the mixture of oral and written traditions of Irish literature. At the same time, Joyce allows his characters to unleash their verbosity and helps the readers to realize the importance of keeping different views in life. To be specific, the novel Ulysses by James Joyce revolutionized the context of world literature because the aforementioned work is generally considered as the direct disconnection from the traditional mode of literature. Thesis statement: In the novel Ulysses, James Joyce makes use of different points of view and splits the narrator function to enhance the matchless technique of stream of consciousness and exposes the inner minds of the main characters. Discussion: This section is divided into four: dissimilar points of view, Bloom’s view, Stephen’s view, Molly’s view, and Deasy’s view. Dissimilar points of view In the novel, the novelist makes use of different points of view to amalgamate the plot with the lives of the main characters. To be specific, the different points of view of the characters help the readers to envisage the fragmented stories in the novel as a single unit. Wolfgang Iser stated that “Ulysses is a vast network of expectations, simultaneously evoked and made empty, which is all the more challenging as the gigantic mass of information is deprived of all coherence” (134). Still, the novelist provides ample importance to the cultural and historical importance of Dublin. Besides, the readers are allowed to go deep into the thoughts of the main characters to analyze the scope of the new mode of storytelling. In short, the novelist provides importance to the oral method of storytelling and utilizes the main characters’ minds to unleash his literary craftsmanship. Bloom’s view In the novel, Bloom does not try to reveal his interests, aims, and problems in his private domain. Instead, the novelist makes use of the other characters as a mirror that reflects Bloom’s life. Jean Kimball stated that, “Bloom is a uniquely great comic character, an archetypal figure that has served his culture as a corrective to the psychic imbalance of the era out of which he arose, but he is not a saint and he cannot bear the whole weight as the hero of Ulysses” (145). In addition, the novelist makes use of Bloom to expose the emotional trauma related to infidelity. On the other side, Blooms different view on human life and its ultimate aim helps him to accept Protestantism to marry Molly. Besides, Bloom’s character reveals the troubles faced by settlers in a host nation. Stephen’s view Generally, the character Stephen Dedalus is considered as the novelist’s representative in the novel. One can easily identify the fact that Stephen’s point of view is similar to the narrator’s (say, the novelist’s) view of life. John P. Anderson stated that, “Stephen is searching for his spiritual father, the knowledge and experience that will allow him to take control of his own life and maximize his self-realization” (38). In the opening of the novel, Stephen is portrayed as an important character, or even as the protagonist. Later, the novelist ignores Stephen’s presence and leads the readers towards the lives of the other characters. But towards the climax of the novel, Stephen re-enters and questions the importance given to fatherhood in human life. So, the novelist makes use of Stephen’s point of view to share his views on religious faith, fatherhood, and aim. Molly’s view The novelist inculcates Molly’s point of view to highlight the difference between imagination and truth. To be specific, Molly is interested to live in an imaginary world. Besides, she does not like to enter the real world because she is totally immersed in her own world of imagination. Vincey Vattachirayil John opined that, “Her imaginary world is the world, in which she is still admired by many and the real world, in which she is confronted with loneliness and fear of aging” (6). At the same time, Molly does not try to be faithful in her life because she maintains an affair with another character, named as Boylan. Within this context, the novelist makes use of Molly to expose the problems in married life. So, Molly’s point of view forces her to go beyond the boundaries of married life. Deasy’s view The novelist makes use of Deasy’s point of view to focus on the problems faced by Jews in the mainstream society. In the novel, Deasy is portrayed as a headmaster, but he does not possess any quality of an ideal teacher. To be specific, an ideal teacher must be impartial towards religions. But Deasy’s opinion on Jews proves that his mind is full of hatred towards the Jews in Europe, especially in England. Edward A Kopper opined that, “Deasy feels that England is decaying because Jews are controlling the finances and the press” (30). The novelist makes use of Deasy as a mouthpiece to point out his personal opinion on importance of religious tolerance. Besides, the discussion between Stephen and Deasy sheds light into the history of Ireland. Splitting the narrator function This section is divided into four: Fragmentation, Stream of consciousness, Mind, and Narrative technique. Fragmentation The split narrative technique made use by the novelist is helpful to the readers to have different views of the same plot. To be specific, human mind cannot be easily guided towards a specific thought because the process within human mind is unimaginable. So, the novelist decided to mimic the human mind with full of fragmented thoughts. John P. Houston opined that, “In Ulysses we encounter a technique of fragmenting, heightening, and scattering or isolating the materials of description which Joyce used to avoid introducing breaks into the narrative” (53). One can see that the narrator simply follows the minds of the characters. This leads to the fragmentation of the plot into dissimilar parts. But fragmentation does not hinder the flow of the novel as a single whole because the plot is linked with mythology and characters from other literary works. Stream of consciousness One can see that stream of consciousness helps the novelist to go beyond the limits of traditional story-telling. The novelist tries to create awareness among the readers on the differences among the characters, their aspirations, and how they react in their private domains. Shmoop stated that, “In Ulysses, we get a new version of interior monologue in which the characters don’t think in complete and well-formed sentences” (302). To be specific, the internal monologues in the novel by Stephen prove that he is in an existential quest. On the other side, Molly’s monologue proves that she is in fond of materialistic life. But Bloom is totally immersed in life because he feels that he is responsible towards his family. So, stream of consciousness is inculcated by Joyce to provide flexibility to the novel as a whole. Mind One can see that the novel is an effort to examine human minds by providing importance to the reaction of the characters. In the novel, some characters like Bloom and Stephen are ready to change according to the changes in their lives. On the other side, the characters like Molly and Deasy are not ready to change. Bernard McKenna makes clear that, “Doubtlessly, Ulysses focuses on the movements of the thoughts and circumstances of individuals, how events change around them” (17). Within this scenario, the narrator shifts his/her attention from one character to another. Besides, the novelist reveals the mentality of the main characters through dialogues and monologues. This helps the readers to predict the reaction of the main characters. Narrative technique Narrative technique In the novel, Joyce introduces a special narrative technique in which time and setting are amalgamated with the plot. To be specific, the novel is different from traditional fiction because the narrator does not try to introduce the protagonist and the main characters. Instead, the readers are allowed to assume the identity of the characters in an independent way. But this freedom does not hinder the free flow of time element in the novel. On the other side, Joyce makes use of this narrative technique to reveal the scope of oral tradition of story-telling in Irish literature. Maria Tymoczko opined that, “But we may also speculate that some of Joyce’s techniques in Ulysses were engendered in part by his own attempts to make configurative meaning of the unfamiliar narrative texture of medieval Irish literature and his own reader response to the early narrative of his native tradition” (68). So, the narrative technique adopted by Joyce in his work is related to the literary tradition in Ireland. Summing, the discussion proves that the assessment of different points of view used in novel helps the readers to disregard ambiguity and to accept the novel as genuine endeavour, undertaken by the novelist. Besides, the split narrative technique is helpful to go beyond the limits of fiction and to go deep into the inner-minds of the main characters. Within this scenario, the novelist strictly follows the oral mode by inculcating Irish mythical elements. In addition, the novelist’s attempt to make judicious references helps the readers to compare the main characters with the characters from other works. In short, the readers feel that time and space is stagnant in the novel because the novel’s structure is in the form of fragmented parts. Works Cited Anderson, John P. Finding Joy in Joyce: A Reader's Guide to Ulysses. US: Universal- Publishers, 2000. Print. Houston, John P. Joyce and prose: an exploration of the language of Ulysses. Cranbury: Bucknell University Press, 1989. Print. Iser, Wolfgang. Prospecting: From Reader Response to Literary Anthropology. London: JHU Press, 1993. Print. John, Vincey Vattachirayil. The Representation of Gender and Sexuality in Ulysses. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print. Kimball, Jean. Odyssey of the Psyche: Jungian Patterns in Joyce's “Ulysses”. US: SIU Press, 1997. Print. Kopper, Edward A. CliffsNotes on Joyce's Ulysses. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003. Print. McKenna, Bernard. James Joyce's Ulysses: A Reference Guide. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Print. Shmoop. Ulysses: Shmoop Literature Guide. N.p.: Shmoop University Inc, 2010. Print. Tymoczko, Maria. The Irish Ulysses. California: University of California Press, 1994. Print. Read More