# I explained — Ulysses

> Chapter companion for Ulysses by James Joyce.

## What happens

Buck Mulligan, a boisterous medical student, shaves on the rooftop of the Martello Tower while mocking the Catholic Mass. Stephen Dedalus, a brooding intellectual, joins him. Mulligan teases Stephen about his grief for his mother and his refusal to pray at her deathbed. Haines, an Englishman staying with them, appears. The three discuss art, religion, and Irish identity. Stephen is haunted by his mother's ghost and feels alienated from Mulligan's crude humor. The chapter ends with Stephen leaving the tower, determined to break free.

## Themes in this chapter

### Alienation and Belonging

Stephen feels estranged from Mulligan's mockery and Haines's Englishness, highlighting his search for identity and connection.

### Mortality and Grief

Stephen is haunted by his mother's death and his refusal to pray, reflecting unresolved grief and guilt.

## Character check-ins

### Buck Mulligan

Performs a mock Mass while shaving, taunts Stephen about his mother's death, and displays a boisterous, irreverent personality.

### Stephen Dedalus

Brooding and guilt-ridden over his mother's death, refuses to pray at her bedside, and feels alienated from Mulligan and Haines.

### Haines

An Englishman staying at the tower, interested in Irish folklore and Stephen's wit, but oblivious to the tension between Stephen and Mulligan.

## Key lines

> Introibo ad altare Dei.

I will go to the altar of God.

_Mulligan mockingly intones the opening of the Latin Mass while shaving, blending sacred ritual with profane comedy._

> The islanders, Mulligan said to Haines casually, speak frequently of the collector of prepuces.

Mulligan jokes to Haines that the Irish often talk about a circumciser.

_Mulligan's crude humor about Irish folklore and religion underscores his irreverence and the cultural clash with Haines._

> He who stealeth from the poor lendeth to the Lord. Thus spake Zarathustra.

Taking from the poor is like lending to God, as Nietzsche said.

_Stephen twists a biblical proverb with Nietzschean philosophy, showing his intellectual rebellion and cynicism._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ulysses_se/chapters/i
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ulysses_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ulysses_se/chapters