Mulligan's The Embodiment Of Haines

As a character, Haines is within the novel, the physical embodiment of the Irish revivalist movement. Therefore, when Mulligan says these things about Haines, he is saying them about the movement. He furthers his disgust for the English and their involvement in this movement by telling Stephen that Haines thinks he is “not a gentleman” (I. 52) and that Haines cannot “make [Stephen] out” (I. 54). In this situation, Stephen is the embodiment of the Irish in relation to the English—unlike Mulligan, who is the embodiment of England’s relationship with the Irish. He is the embodiment of the Irish because he is depicted as “weary” (I. 36). Therefore, when Mulligan tells Stephen that Haines thinks he is not a gentleman, what he is saying is that the

Similarly, by saying that Haines cannot “make [Stephen] out,” he is saying that the English fundamentally do not understand the Irish. Therefore, this adds the layers to the ideas about the revivalist movement: That it is not only laborious and out of touch, but pandering to the Irish people and do not understand what they truly need. Mulligan continues the idea of English superiority by saying they are “bursting with money and indigestion” (I. 52 – 53). To burst means “To break suddenly, snap, crack, under violent pressure, strain, or concussion. Chiefly said of things possessing considerable capacity for resistance and breaking with loud noise” (“Burst, V. Def. I (1a)”). While indigestion literally occurs when someone has the “incapacity of or difficulty in digesting food” (“indigestion, n. Def. 1A”), it can also figuratively mean “the state of not being reduced to order or brought to maturity; disorder, imperfection” (“Indigestion, N. Def.

The use of the word, “intoned,” –which means to “utter in musical tones; to sing, chant” and has a religious connotation of a “psalm” or a “prayer,”—instead of a more casual verb, like to sing or cry out, keeps the tone of Mulligan’s playacting serious (“Intone, V. Def. 1A”). Likewise Mulligan, and Joyce’s diction for him, remain serious throughout the whole procession: He “solemnly” goes up to the gunrest and “mounts” his shaving equipment there. To do something solemnly means to do it as though it “sacred” (“solemnly, adj”) and when one mounts something, they “raise in honour, estimation, power, wealth” (“Mount, V. Def. I (1A)”). Correspondingly, when he blesses himself, he does it “gravely” or “seriously, soberly” (“Gravely, Adv. Def. 1”). These words have a serious connotation and keep Mulligan’s elaborate play going. In addition He also stays true to the traditions of Mass by speaking the Latin phrase, “Introibo ad altare Dei,” which means: “I will go up to the altar of God” and is used in services. The serious tone of the make-believe mass is kept throughout; therefore, the only way the reader knows that he is making fun of the religious ritual is because he is shaving. For example, right after Mulligan blesses Stephen, the reader sees him “gurgling in his throat and shaking his head.” The weightiness of the language used to describe what he is