Faubourg Saint Patrice - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

One of the most poignant examples of this occurs early in "Telemachus," as
Mulligan reminds Stephen of his refusal to obey the wishes of his dying mother: "You
could have knelt down, damn it, Kinch, when your dying mother asked you . . . But to
think of your mother begging you with her last breath to kneel down and pray for her.
And you refused. There is something sinister in you . . ." (1.91-4). Stephen's refusal to
kneel and pray for his dying mother is a similar, but escalated, version of his earlier
unwillingness to receive the Eucharist to appease her (A Portrait 206). Thus, the
intimate connection between the Catholic Church and his dead mother is firmly
embedded in Stephen's consciousness'. Indeed, May Dedalus's devout nature is
described in detail in A Portrait, and Stephen's rejection of the faith of family and country
undoubtedly brought her severe torment. Budgen explains Stephen's self-righteous
refusal to obey his mother's last wish and his subsequent remorse: "He has a theologian's
logic and a churchman's conscience" (41). In this scene, Stephen's guilt over his refusal
to pray for his mother--to either adopt her orthodox Catholicism or feign belief to
placate her--causes him to transfer remorse to anger, as he mentally lashes out at both
the God of his youth and his dead mother, whom he closely associates with the religion
of his youth: "Ghoul! Chewer of corpses! No, mother! Let me be and let me live"
(1.279-80). His cry, "Let me be and let me live," while directed at the memory of his
mother, could easily be addressed to his own tormented conscience. While his thoughts
appear defiant, Stephen is still shocked by the violence of his mental outburst as he
trembles "at his soul's cry" (1.282). This early scene foreshadows the more intense
hallucination in "Circe," in which Stephen is challenged by the ghostly apparition of his
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