Joyce

[Rellehhpesoj]

I like James Joyce

[SirStefan32]

I wrote an essay on "Araby."
I think it's an awesome story. A lot of symbolism in it.

Stefan

[hadji9]

All of Joyce's novels, short stories, poems, and drama are fraught with symbolism. Joyce was a modern-day master of literary techniques, which he may have acquired, in part, from the French symbolist pioneer, Arthur Rimbaud. There is no doubt that Stephen Dedalus identifies with (and at times, transforms himself into) Rimbaud in 'Ulysses'. The 'Proteus' episode may be a microcosm of the Hell that rimbaud describes as 'the desert', which does not necessarily conflict with Stephen's view of himself as the fallen Lucifer walking along Sandymount Strand since, after all, Stephen has a (Daedalean) fear of water and remains on the sandy beaches throughout the entire episode.

In 'The Sisters', Joyce uses the classically ambiguous term "as if" to add a great deal of uncertainty to the story. This is - of course - true for all the stories of the 'Dubliners' but here is a classic example: "She stopped suddenly as if to listen. I too listened; but there was no sound in the house: and I knew that the old priest was lying still in his coffin as we had seen him, solemn and truculent in death, an idle chalice on his breast." (D., p. 5) What is the purpose of implying that the old priest wasn't "lying still in his coffin" only to have the narrator rebuke it and reassure us that the old priest is indeed "solemn and truculent in death"? I believe that Joyce wants us to continually doubt and continually reformulate our own perception of his stories. For example, what happens to Gabriel Conroy at the end of 'The Dead'? "A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward." ('The Dead', p. 98) Does setting out on his "journey westard" imply that he is going to visit Galway, where Gretta was raised? Or does it simply imply that he is dying (going "westward" is a classic euphemism for dying) both morally and, perphaps, physically? The cool part is, noone can say for sure. The two seemingly contradictory terms interlace and force us to accept both as possibilities, leaving us to constantly work and rework our own theories on what Joyce was implying. Happy New Years present of knowledge.

[b]

This reply might be a little late, but I think you are missing something.

The symbolism in Ulysses doesn't only manifest itself in direct events like you described before, but also in more indirect ways: all the layers of reality that one can find in the book, are referring to each oter all the time. The symbolism in Ulysses exeeds to much more than only the internal monologues of the characters and the deeper perspective of personal behaviour.

The most remarkalbe layer of reality in Ulysses that contains symbolism, is that of language. Joyce perfectly composes and controls the use of language in relation to other aspects of the book. Let me give you a rather trivial example: in the Nausicaa chapter, when Bloom is looking at Gerty MacDowell's legs, the language sybolises Bloom's extasy on such a way that it corresponds with most of the other aspects of the event that is illustrated. At that situation, Bloom's extacy is captured by a rising crescendo of o - sounds. When Gerty walks away Bloom raves:

Tight boots? No. She's lame! O!

The constant ambiguity and symbolism that you can find in Ulysses - in all layers of reality in the book - form an object of reality on it's own, which corresponds with two of the main themes of Ulysses: cultural androgyny and the incertain and ambiguous complexity of life.

[Jay]

Well, I know it's kinda off topic, but I like Joyce's poems. Does anyone else happen to like them?

[b]

Yes. I do like his poems. Especially - in the context of this forum - the next one:

The Holy Office

Myself unto myself will give
This name, Katharsis-Purgative.
I, who dishevelled ways forsook
To hold the poets' grammar book,
Bringing to tavern and to brothel
The mind of witty Aristotle,
Lest bards in the attempt should err
Must here be my interpreter:
Wherefore receive now from my lip
Peripatetic scholarship.
To enter heaven, travel hell,
Be piteous or terrible
One positively needs the ease
Of plenary indulgences.

(James Joyce)

[b]

Yes. I do like his poems. Especially - in the context of this forum - the next one:

The Holy Office

Myself unto myself will give
This name, Katharsis-Purgative.
I, who dishevelled ways forsook
To hold the poets' grammar book,
Bringing to tavern and to brothel
The mind of witty Aristotle,
Lest bards in the attempt should err
Must here be my interpreter:
Wherefore receive now from my lip
Peripatetic scholarship.
To enter heaven, travel hell,
Be piteous or terrible
One positively needs the ease
Of plenary indulgences.

(James Joyce)

[Robert E Lee]

All I can say about Joyce is that he started out well, but his ego got to his head and he started writing nonsense.

[MarsMonster]

I wrote an essay on "Araby."
I think it's an awesome story. A lot of symbolism in it.

Stefan

serbia:)