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James Joyce Research Paper

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Mr. Leopold Bloom faces many temptations during his 10 a.m. walk around Dublin on June 16, 1904, in James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece, Ulysses. Joyce uses a stream of consciousness technique that allows the reader to read the direct thoughts of the characters of his book throughout one day. Many Americans were offended at the character’s uncensored thoughts, and it took over ten years for the United States to allow publication of this purportedly obscene book. Since many people’s thoughts include sexual, violent, or other private information, the subject matter of the book can offend some individuals. The novel richly describes its characters in detail as a result of this controversial technique, an action that most works of fiction would …show more content…

There are two main temptations that Bloom faces at All Hallows Cathedral. The first is that Bloom is tempted into losing his own faith. Bloom is nominally a Catholic, is perceived to be a Jew, but identifies as secular. His faith is a strange amalgamation but is nevertheless his own distinctly original faith. He slips into a Catholic church service and observes what takes place. Bloom seems to be lured into coming into the church, “The cold smell of sacred stone called him.” He is mesmerized at the Latin that is being spoken and he refers to the music that he has heard at other masses as being splendid. Later, he becomes skeptical of the Latin. He says, “Corpus. Body. Corpse. Good idea the Latin. Stupefies them first. Hospice for the dying… Rum idea: eating bits of a corpse why the cannibals cotton to it.” He recognizes the latin word corpus as meaning body or corpse, in reference to the Messiah. He has been somewhat stupefied by the service, but this quote makes his thoughts on Catholicism clear. Bloom observes part of a church service and considers Catholicism, but ultimately decides on maintaining his own unique mix of faiths …show more content…

This temptation is less about Bloom overcoming the temptation and more about him acknowledging that drugs are a temptation that can mask his problems. This situation also gives Joyce a place to write about the temptation of drugs in general and to write humorous statements about nature and drugs. Bloom walks into the chemist’s shop and begins thinking, “Drugs age you after mental excitement. Lethargy then. Why? Reaction. A lifetime in a night. Gradually changes your character.” Bloom recalls that drugs give short bursts of relief or pleasure, as indicated by “a lifetime in a night.” He has the sagacity to not even consider these chemicals as a solution to his problems. Bloom ironically contemplates the more dangerous drugs, “Poisons the only cures. Remedy where you least expect it. Clever of nature.” Although this quote is amusing, the quote expresses Bloom’s opinion of suicide. Suicide could be tempting because it would provide a quick “solution” to his problems. Bloom only slyly implies that suicide would be an option. He seems to regard suicide as a joke. He has a dark sense of humor at times, and this joking may be a way that he can allow himself to dismiss such a calamitous, harmful decision

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