Ulysses · Chapter
XII explained
In Barney Kiernan's pub, a group of Dubliners including the Citizen, Joe Hynes, John Wyse Nolan, and others discuss politics, capital punishment, and Leopold Bloom, who arrives and is met with hostility.
What happens
In Barney Kiernan's pub, a group of Dubliners including the Citizen, Joe Hynes, John Wyse Nolan, and others discuss politics, capital punishment, and Leopold Bloom, who arrives and is met with hostility. The conversation veers into anti-Semitic remarks and a mock-heroic description of a hanging, while Bloom attempts to engage with scientific explanations.
Themes in this chapter
Nationalism and Colonialism
The Citizen's aggressive nationalism and anti-Semitic remarks contrast with Bloom's outsider status, highlighting tensions around Irish identity and colonial legacy.
Alienation and Belonging
Bloom is repeatedly excluded and mocked by the group, underscoring his alienation as a Jewish man in nationalist Dublin.
The Body and Sensuality
The discussion of a hanged man's erection and Bloom's scientific explanation focus on bodily phenomena and sexual physiology.
Characters to notice
- Leopold Bloom
Arrives at Barney Kiernan's pub, is mocked and criticized by the Citizen and others, and attempts to discuss capital punishment scientifically.
- The Citizen
Aggressively nationalist, hostile toward Bloom, and engages in anti-Semitic rhetoric.
- Joe Hynes
Reads a letter from a hangman and participates in the discussion about capital punishment.
- John Wyse Nolan
Claims Bloom gave the idea for Sinn Fein to Arthur Griffith and defends Bloom's patriotism.
- Alf Bergan
Tells a story about a hanged man's erection and contributes to the conversation.
- Martin Cunningham
Arrives at the pub and is asked about Bloom's involvement with Sinn Fein.
- Lenehan
Accuses Bloom of defrauding widows and orphans.
- Ned Lambert
Questions Bloom's religious identity and asks who he is.
Key passages
“John Wyse saying it was Bloom gave the idea for Sinn Fein to Griffith to put in his paper all kinds of jerrymandering, packed juries and swindling the taxes off of the Government and appointing consuls all over the world to walk about selling Irish industries.”
John Wyse Nolan claimed that Bloom was the one who suggested the Sinn Fein strategy to Arthur Griffith, involving electoral manipulation, jury packing, tax evasion, and establishing consuls to promote Irish industries globally.
This reflects the suspicion and blame directed at Bloom for nationalist political tactics.
“Ruling passion strong in death, says Joe, as someone said.”
Joe Hynes remarks that a person's dominant desire persists even at the moment of death, referencing the hanged man's erection.
This comment ties the discussion of capital punishment to the theme of bodily impulses.
“That can be explained by science, says Bloom. It's only a natural phenomenon, don't you see, because on account of the...”
Bloom attempts to explain the hanged man's erection as a natural physiological response, using scientific terminology.
Bloom's rational approach contrasts with the group's crude humor and hostility.