Faubourg Saint Patrice - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Hugh C. Love18, replaces Stephen as Mulligan's acolyte as they perform the sacrilegious
ritual on Mrs. Purefoy's pregnant stomach--a symbol of "Ireland's poor but fertile body"
(Blamires 187). Thus, with the God of Ireland symbolically killed by Stephen, those
forces who occupy the metaphorical spiritual vacuum collude in the performance of the
mass, just as they had earlier colluded to usurp Stephen's position in Martel lo tower.
Mulligan, the priest of science and purveyor of materialism, and Haines, symbolic of
British imperialism and purveyor of Celtic novelties, synthesize into the priest whom
Stephen must extricate from his conscience. Exacerbating Stephen's betrayal by these
two usurpers, his companion, Lynch, cowardly escapes from the pending attack by the
British soldiers. Stephen equates him with Jesus's betrayer: "Exit Judas. Et laqueo se
suspendit" (15.4730; Matt. 27:5)19. Thus, at the apex of Stephen's confrontation with
those forces that wove the nets of his culture, he is alone. Ironically, as the
hallucinogenic images of the black mass fade from Stephen's thoughts and he is struck by
Private Carr, Stephen is rescued by Bloom, who, although marginalized by other
characters throughout the day, places himself at risk to protect Stephen from the wrath
of the soldiers and the danger of arrest.
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