Faubourg Saint Patrice - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Bloom's religious marginality is again highlighted in "Hades." According to
Gilbert, Joyce used the technique of "incubism" in composing this episode--a literary
technique which creates a constant "downward movement" and "stifling pressure" on
Bloom (Gilbert 174). Similarly, Joyce identified "religion" as the art which he used to
structure this episode, and Bloom's religious isolation and uncertainty become salient
through his musings at Paddy Dignam's funeral. While these literary techniques are
particularly apropos for an episode set in a funeral procession and graveyard, they also
serve to accentuate Bloom's marginality. By coupling the incubism technique with
Bloom's revealing interior monologue, Joyce places the reader directly into Bloom's
thoughts and unfolds the inner workings of his mind, portraying the mental turmoil
which reaches its nadir in "Circe." R.M. Adams describes the effect of this literary
technique as a "hollow resonance," which portrays "the deepening and darkening in
Bloom's mind of an immense emptiness" (97).
While traversing the funeral route, Bloom is less physically alone then he was in
either "Calypso" or "Lotus Eaters"; he is, however, more alienated spiritually, and
Bloom's deep mental reflections provide a stark contrast to the jovial discussion of his
compatriots. As the funeral procession begins, Bloom is the last to enter the carriage
and occupies the "vacant place" (6.9). It is from this "vacant place" that Joyce, through
the eyes of Bloom, critiques the Catholic perspective on death and resurrection in
"Hades," as Bloom questions the futility of the ornate funeral ceremony, the Catholic
concept of the resurrection of the body, the importance of the sacrament of Extreme
Unction, and the treatment of suicides. Ellmann describes Joyce's purpose of distancing
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