Episode 12 – C Y C L O P S

● Plot summary:

Just before 5:00 p.m., this chapter begins. Leopold Bloom wanders into Barney
Kiernan's pub after the Molly Affair. Bloom is not a drinker and this is not a bar he
frequents regularly; indeed, when he practically wanders into Kiernan s where he is to
meet Cunningham and Power for a journey to see the Widow Dignam, Bloom seems to be
lost in thought. The fierce scene of the pub is a serious contrast to the Ormond's bar's
mellow drunkenness and Bloom is instantly awkward. Kiernan's pub is terrorized by a
rabid Irish nationalist named Resident, concentrating much of his verbal assault on Bloom.
Like many of the patriots of Joyce, people are both anti-Semitic and isolationist in their
thought. Initially, the resident continues his intoxicated debate on the subject of the lost
Celtic civilization. While he narrowly discusses the demise of the Irish language, the main
emphasis of Citizen1 is on the revival of the ancient Celtic games.
The vocal sputtering of Citizen1 is not taken into consideration, but none of the patrons of
pub1 sound as awkward as Bloom. For Bloom, a big dog called Garryowen is similarly
threatening, and Citizen is not the owner of the dog, despite Garryowen's obedience to
Citizen, who feeds the dog biscuits.Lenehan is present and his conversation shows the
outcome of the horserace in which the strongly favoured Sceptre was disrupted by
Throwaway. Bloom is compelled to play a valiant role in protecting himself as Citizen's
anti-Semitism explodes. In specific, Bloom is accused of cheating from widows and
orphans, and he goes on, insinuating that Jews will never be real Irish citizens.Before
offering Citizen a short catalogue of Jews who have made important contributions to
European and Irish society, Bloom defends himself as a truthful man. When Bloom tells
Citizen that his own God (Christ) also happens to be a Jew, Citizen gets angry and Citizen
chases after him as Bloom leaves the pub triumphant, tossing an empty biscuit tin at
Bloom's head.People whose rocket drop well short of the target are momentarily blinded
by the light. Bloom begins his quest to visit the widow of Dignam, accompanied by Martin
Cunningham and Jack Power, upon leaving Kiernan's bar. They expect to explore the
terms of the insurance policies for Paddy Dignam1 and help the widow get her finances in
order.

● Homeric parallels:

Kiernan's pub's Citizen-cyclops is based on the staunch Irish nationalist Michael

Cusack, who tried to recreate Gaelic sports in Ireland as a reaction towards England, and
Kiernan's pub becomes, metaphorically, the Homeric cave where the cannibalistic giant
cyclops of Greek myth trapped Odysseus and his men. Other comparisons are very overt
with the Odyssey and determine several of the motifs of this chapter. In the epic of Homer,
the Cyclops, Polyphemus, who devoured some of the men of Odysseus, was one-eyed, of
course. Like the other cyclops in Homer's iconic nation, he was an anarchist as well. By
making him high on alcohol, Odysseus fled from the cyclops; Odysseus blinded him with
a flaming stake after the creature had sunk into a deep slumber. Odysseus then fled the
cave with his remaining men by latching onto the undersides of the sheep of the cyclops.
Since Odysseus had told Polyphemus that his name was No-Man, when they asked the
blind hulk who had gone out of his eye, the giant got only laughter from his cohorts. They
claimed that since "no man" had done the deed, then Polyphemus had to be punished by
the gods; they left him to an unknown fate for that reason. Odysseus made the mistake of
taunting the blind cyclops as he fled the land of the cyclops, who threw a huge rock at the
fleeing voyagers. Odysseus and his men missed him, but Polyphemus asked the crew to
curse his lord, Poseidon, and since Poseidon was the god of the seas, Odysseus was forced
to wander for several more years before returning to Ithaca at last.
In the episode, some other less comprehensive comparisons occur. For example,
when Odysseus attempts to flee from the island of the Cyclopsis, Geraghty, who is bound
by the law, wants to escape his condition. Even, with its flaming ass caricatures, Bloom's
"knockmedown cigar" slams the Odysseus burning pike into the eye of Polyphemos. There
are also some allusions to blindness at the hands of Odysseus that mirror Polyphêmos'
blinding. "In addition to the initial almost blinding experience of the narrator, the men
speak of a boxer "whose right eye was almost closed," the narrator expresses his desire to
kick the dog of the Citizen, Garryown, "where it will not blind him," and the men also
mention the "blind intestine.

● Major themes and motifs. Symbolic correspondences:

In the Homer "Cyclops" episode, as Ulysses taunts Polyphemus, the concepts of

masculinity and self-identity find a fascinating contrast, confiding that his real name is
"Noman." In addition to subtle references to "Noman" and "Nobody," Bloom is
emasculated by references to "the adulteress and her paramour." In comparison, Bloom
has spent the day hiding from Boylan, and just as Bloom's legal name varies from his
paternal name (Virag), Bloom dresses as Henry Flower as a way to avoid his family
troubles. That Bloom, Herb, and Virag are synonymous implies that Bloom can not cover
himself under any name.The antics of the appropriately called Citizen, at the same time as
he has to identify himself as someone more than a nameless nomad, force Bloom to obtain
some masculinity. The theme of Irish national freedom is continued in the rhetoric of the
Citizen, but the core points of Joyce are not completely reflected in his persistent imitation
of the passionate and blind patriotism of the villain. The theme of Irish national freedom is
continued in the rhetoric of the Citizen, but the core points of Joyce are not completely
reflected in his persistent imitation of the passionate and blind patriotism of the villain.
The theme of Irish national freedom is continued in the rhetoric of the Citizen, but the core
points of Joyce are not completely reflected in his persistent imitation of the passionate
and blind patriotism of the villain.

● Method and style:

The method of this episode is "Catechism (personal)", according to Joyce, reported
by Stuart Gilbert. But question and answer, suitable to school room and interview,
interrupt the stream of consciousness, which proceeds by free association, one thing
suggesting the next. Our point of view, centred in this process, is necessarily Stephen's.