ABSTRACT
. . . The misadventures of Molly Bloom are no longer thrust into prominence by the lean hand of the censor, and we are allowed to relax in her presence. As for the esoteric mysteries of Stephen Dedalus and his companions of a memorable sixteen hours, even these have been cleared away within twelve long years of commentary. We can now approach the large, sparsely punctuated pages of this Homeric idyll in the same spirit that we read Tristram Shandy and from them a curious experience emerges. . . . As I have already suggested, we are now moving away from the direct influence of Joyce's Odyssey, and as we drop discussion of its technical values, we will find a fresh enjoyment of its comedy and then accept the figure of Leopold Bloom as one of the great comic characters of all literature. It will then be natural to regard him as the peer of Uncle Toby or Falstaff or Mr. Micawber and the creation of his world is quite as complete as theirs. Once we are in it, there is no release from its singular atmosphere; we admit dull passages, but what great novel is entirely free of this defect? Surely not Don Quixote or Tristram Shandy or Gil Blas. I wish to make this prophecy: As Joyce's influence wanes and as the history of Ulysses becomes merely another chapter in an encyclopedia of English literature, our enjoyment of the book as major fiction will increase. As we read onward through that June day in 1904, Leopold Bloom's ‘stream of consciousness’ will again enter our blood and lacking the need to consider Joyce's method in bringing him to life, we shall discover him as part of our heritage and he will be of greater vitality than the friend we boast of knowing all too well. Again we shall see him relish a breakfast of kidneys, feed the cat and follow his wife's directions in brewing a pot of tea, and we shall know by these signs that his day has begun. We shall be less aware, perhaps, of his author's purpose in creating him, but no matter, Bloom will outlive us all and will remain (as Uncle Toby has survived) as the arch symbol of humanity in a transient world. . . .
