No More Learning

, Ethnonn, pp. 306---9
? S<o . '. ,. ,~ 111. 1. d _
? s. ;. iah Muoeum Add. MS 47413. f. "~to
,"
? Spatial Cycles : I- The Circu
Dublin and the Mediterranean u little more than allegory. In FilUllllGns W"*,, how~ver, wheC<' "" many problems ofcommuni_ cation and balance are rewlved, Joyce manages very cleverly to have his cake and eat it too. Having discovered a furmula for the lilerary philooopher'i 1I0ne which would allow him to trans- mute anything inlO a perfe<:tly integ. . . ~ted element of hi, novel, he was now able to iru;lude the whole universe within Ih~ c<>n- fines of Dublin'. hurdle, without (". rea. ting any feeling of Slrain, and above aU without the OOllStant implication of metaphor and allegory which ! lOme readers have found SO tiring in U/ym. r. The 'real world' of Dublin U nO longer acting OUI a half_ obocured tale ofh~roics; the city and it> life have bt:come no
moC<' and no I"", important than any of the othcr element> in the book, from which they aC<' alJTl()$1 entirely undiITerentiated. IfFu,1Ulall$ W". (:,UcoJl! idercd---ouJoyceobviouslywanled'" to consider it---ou a . . ,If-swtaining and . . ,If_explanatory entily, lhe nalUralinic clementi simply fall into place a. further otcps on the Scale ofNatuC<' thalJoyce;' auempting to = c t. At the naturafutic level the cycles <)f physical movemenl which 1 diocll. <! l in this chapter appear as no more Ihan the daily round of activiti"" in a bar-room. Within thu world neither Shem nor Shaun ~ any travelling at all outside Chapeli<Od, bnt al
higher symbolic levels the 'circumcentric megacydes' of their rt:Spective journeys take in, fun the whole of i reland'--'from Ihe antidulibnium onlo the scrmtaataC<'an' (S'O. 07)- ili," Enrop", the globe, and finally the heavenly . phert:S.
While there are important Ulra_terrestrial dimem10ru to Finn'lons IV"*', lOme ofwhich I discu" in the nexl chapler (Ihe spheC<' of being extends right oul to the 'prim~um nobile",',
3~6. t I),Joyce keep' his fecI firmly on the earth moo' of the time since, all an Arti! t emulating God, h~ mill! devote most of bis attention to purely sublunary malters, leaving the reol of the
universe as a rather pleasing adjunct. ? Ibe 'intention may have been g~odetic' indeed. FintltCalU W4kt ill laid out like . . map of tI. . : globe-'a chart cxpanded' (~9S. t9)-for geography i. '" important to Joyce ll. I history. O""r eight hundred n""rs are
, $h Appendix B.
'"
? Spmial Cycks: f - Tht Circle
named, a. o . . . ? ell as every continCnt, "hnOll cVtty country, mOil! of the SlalCt of the U. S. and aU the counu. :. of Oreal Britain and Irdand. We move from Book to Book as aeroos COOw'c,ua,
mH. ing ICnli~ta1 . i<>ur"mys and pilgrimalf"l to individu~ b. . . w within \lIem as Joyu dc,-elopt his nt. O. (roooomic equivl_ len! of 'The PU'l'Je beland'. Althoujjh Ihe whule of the earlh'? ? uIf"':e i, implicit in \1Ie book', IICOpe, there are, . . . is u,u. l in
J oyce'. scheme" key point. of IpecilJ Iymbolic and IlruclUraJ lignificance. Joy<:c'. vanou. European homes h""" an impo. . t>. nt _ i t funetion of courx, and 3~ ttru:ed in . . . "", detail in 1. 7, bul the n,,,jur . parial cyclCl-a~rI ftOm tho m. u. . gyn.
lions . . ithin Dublin i! Klf- a. . . , made to pall ! braugh Dublin and the United SI211:s on the one ! land and Dublin and Australasia on the odw:r (ap. ,;'l1y, in the latter, New Soulh Wa. l. a, Tumania, and New 7A:a1and). Several kitmotW oerve
10 eltablill, thi, ';mp1c spatial pattern, the mO$I important being the ! . ttler and the Tdegr:>. m, I together with" group of SOngl having 10 do with Ih" United Slalea and travelling to it, luch as 'orrto Philadelphia in Ihe Momlng', 'Yanke<: Doodle Dandy', 'Slar. Spangled Banner'. '
Not only is Ihe ICheme ofFiMll/W W. . u ;! klf cyclic, but the inhabitan" oflhis re-cntnnt world themttl\? c:s. pin in . . erny, tirina: whirl arQUnd circular paths of endeavour, always wilh new ! lope, always frtJ$lJ"ate<i, maintained by the wan I3tisfac-
tion tha! , like Bruce', spld. . . (596, ' 5), they will always be able 10 try again. T heir cycling il . . . much literal and physical as metaphorical and $piritulll. F. arwicker pe<lah wearily around the four sides of the rho,nhoid Garden of &kn,' Anna revol'-eJ within the broken curv<: of the Liffey'l COUnt, the rainbow? gir! . c i r c l e wit~nhins a b o u t S l t a u n {HO. 36 ~ S h < : m p i r o u e t t e s i n s i n i J . trogyric spira\t (300. 26)- while in the next frame of rd"erence
both Shemand Shaun cirr:umnavigale the globe, fore""tnel"lof Mr. Bedell" one-I<:gg<:d wandell'r in 1M u? ? ? ". Lf. : ' the old oemctomyp! ace and jupoetbachgain' (11. . ,8). Their orbiu,like
, Sot """"'''''j~ A .
? ! in M:. J. C. Hods&r' ond M. P. Worlh"'c'Qn, ~ . . W Worts tf J_,JIfI". New y . . . . ~. '909.
o s. . Chap. . , Five.
? Spofi<llCydu: I-TkCircle
til". . , of Plato'. Same and Other,' are inclined to each other. ShaUll follow1 an cut-west trajectory,while Shem pro. . . . to Iravd north~ulh, passing through the antipode? ? Of all the spatial cycles in tb. book, thcK a,. . , the two which are most clearly ",! ;. abo [ished, and the twQ \0 which all the nthen may mMt readily be referred for illumination. Their importa""" Ii. ,. not only in their ronupondence 10 the "yel. ,. "fopiritua1 exile and return (atwaya a primary theme in J oyce), b ut aoo in a remarkably heavy load of further symbolic . ignifiean"" that J oyce makes ! hem cany.
Th. rductance of the critics 10 admit that in UIy<ses Joyce Wa. '! writing moTC than s"Jl"rcharged naturalimt long delayed an adequate undcntanding of his themes, and .
""" now there ex;'''' no good treatment of the coomic level of events in the 'I thaca' chapter. The 'symbol' for the chapter is 'comets" and th=: heavenly bodi. . are ,imply Bloom and Stephen, Joyce bimsdfwrote of 'Ithaca'":
'I am wriling JtlwcQ in the fufm of a mathematical catc<:hilm, All even~ are resolved into their cosmic, pbylical, psychical etc. equivalent' , e. g. Bloomjumping down the area, drawing wator from the lap, the micturating in the garden, the <:<lne ofincewe, lighted candle and . tatue so that the reader will know everything and know it in the baldest and <:<lld. ,. 1 way, but Bloom and Stephen thereby become heavenly bodi. ,. , wanderers like the stars at which they gue. '
BI<>om and Stephen have in fact bttn 'put into Ofbit'; theif t. . ". jectori. ,. are spiral, like the spirals of motion to which I refem:d in the previous chapter<: Bloom spirau away from his home and hack to it, ending at the very untre of the whorl of etta,;on ill a black dot' ; Stephen'. orbit i. {be reverse--first
, s. . Chapter Fiv~.
? M. Mog~I""",(<:<I. ),AJ-<Jo7<<M""II4OI),. . . . . . J"';'" c. . . -boodal<,
m. , '959, facl,,! ! p. . jII. ? u. . . . . ,PI'- ,~g-60.
? & . a b o v e , p . 9~ ,
? ThO. dot . h(Kdd follow . he _ 'Wheo-. l' on p. 6g8 of th<: E~{;'h
ed,;. ;. "-,, h"t . . om;,1<<1 through 'YPOJ">-phical erro. -_ I, io . ,t""""import. ,,,,,,, . ;ne< it repreoenb the nu<roo:u<4bO G<>unterpatl of 'be chapter. rna"",," OOO<tuc I""d_IJ(-,> Iu" l;<<. ally been r<<luc<:<l '0 ? uny ""~ ofcuboo, 'Hen: is Rlooro', . . ,~Joy<<, in aru. W<T '0 0,. . q"",'""", 'Ul. imately he "' no more than p,;n',,-', ;nk 1m my P"g<O. _Th. . . . . finally,;" the FI",h ~ Word,
,
'"
? Spatial Cycles: I- The Circle
spiralling in toward 7 EccJc. St""et and then away from il. "Ibi, level of 'I thaca' Qp<n, up many opportunitie! for fu rther di<. cussion for which, however, I have nO 'paee here. The orbits of Shem and Shaun are more nearly cireular, bocalUe in FiMtgtml Wilke Ihere i< no centre on to which a tme spiral might
bt made to converge. I . halltry to . how how Ih"", tv. . . , spatial eycles illWltrate the broad prin6pks of the Shern. Shaun dichowrny.
II: SHAUN'S CYCLE
Although it is Shem who writes the Letter and . eu Ihe whole literary world in a whirl, it i< Shaun who mu,t ddiv~r it; the la. b are shared. Shaun is the means of communication, a social catal)"t who plaY' the intermediary helwc<:n the two
world. of writer and reader withou t being involved in eitlu:r Or understanding the ,ignificance of his own menial hnt very necessary task. I. ike the T sar in Sup/Im Htr(J, Shaun iI a 'bt,olled Christ' (SH 1'2), a holy idiot and scapeg<>at? Mediator in? capahleofgraspinge"en the truth about himself. M a 'dd ivcrcr of ",ftmissives' it is his job to voyage 'round Ihe world in forty maik' (231. 14). His travels take him along one amI oft1u: eroS. of the cardinal points of the compass, . ymboli. y:d by tho Chri,. tian CroM and the Church which is built in iLiimage. TIle n:pre? sentative of a worn-out Age, Shaun move! westward to tho bottom end of this cross where, a . un. god oinking bolow the horizon, he will . . . . join the mute earth from which he . prang. Shaun'. movement from east to west, from tbe head "f t1u: (IOU t<> it! foot, is "f C<>UIX a spatial representation of hil JI\OV<Oment away from Cbrist, for though he is God'. repre. entative in the guise of the Parish Priest ofJIook III, he is, like }'ather }lynn in 'The S;'tc,. ,', a priest of the broken chalia, wdl on the way tm>,'ard that paral)"i. of the soul which iI 'imply a spirieual variant of Osvall's '",funing of the brain'. Shaun', decline is symbolised by hi> insensate prostration as 'Yawn' in III. S, He denounces hil brother IU 'my shemblable! My fr"ttrl' (489. 28)
but in fact it i, he him>elfwho dans U~ Millmu1l. l aua/aail/. IIWIU! r: in 111. 3 he. pews it fonh again in lCareely rtt<lgnisabl<: form, to
".
? Spatial Cycles: I - T h Circle
the dismay of the inqui,itorialspiritualist. . Shaun travels bact<-
ward. and '" faces the cast- looking IOward. the c><pe<:ted resurrection and observing the fornu of Ch. . utianity ~""n in burial. Rut as he p""'" out tbrough Galway and Ira""l, on to Ro. tcm and Philadelphia aCfOlSS the 'enid mad [cary' sea, he reappeal"! ! , miraculomly reoomtituted . . . the New Hero, the youthful, turbaned Earwickr who cntel'! Dublin Bay from the
(~9). Shaun', 'pirit ~ the Styx-
east, from 'Aria Major'
date-lin e in hi, journey around the globe and, having collected the an_import"-nt L<:tler from Boston, Mass. _ y m bol o f the Holy Ghmt-hc turno up again, 'After rounding his W1lrld of ancient day1' (6~3. 36), rencw~d in vigour by its life-giving power, thinly disguised and prepared In begin again b4 fertil4- ing trip up the Liffey, lravdling in a direction opposite to that ofthe female principle "" . . . 10 keep the cycles rolling. The very first page of Fi1lMgdfU W4. kt tdls "" thai the Hero arrives from
North America uio. Europe-that is, from the ea't- while in her ",liloqlly Anna drea"", ofhow she and Earwickr will sit on Howth looking out toward the rising ,un ofthe next generation to 'Walch would the letter you're wanting be coming may be' (623. 29). tn Book III Shaun, now no longer the vigorom invader in biI phallic sharp-prowed ship, but a rapidly leaking barrel, appears to be floating eaatward dOWll. river toward the mouth, but hU progreso, like that ofbil namCllake Scan climbing the wall in Roocicault'. ANal! I/a POI''''"' an optical iIIwion. H. raceo the cast but in fact tra",,1s westward, upstream, to both youth (the UpP<f ri""f) and death (the setting lun) at the . arne
tim<:: '. . . most easterly (but all goes welt! )' (85. 15). One. : more, apparent progr= in one direction generates a reaction in the other, and once again the charnet,," must luffer the hearttm. aking cane. :liation of all their effort which is the most tragic thing inJoycc'. great tragi. comedy. '
Shaun will eventually reach the New World but, likeJoye. :'. own SQn Giorgio (who made two triP" there), he will always be disappointed and return. Keverthcl. . . , in Ipite of cowtant
'A,,=,on,p. ,6,.
, Q". lhe coun'erp<>in' of W",. oo Ea. , in T. bloo I! . oo II! . p. '9.
)(5
? Spatial C)'cus: I - T h Circu
dilillwionment tbe Unit<:d Slates is the only Promised Land that Finlltgllli' Wake can "ffer and it even com. . to ,ymbol;'e a second_grade Heaven.