Faubourg Saint Patrice - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

the other characters. Through Bloom's thoughts, Joyce contrasts the outside appearance
of the ritual against its theological significance as reflected through Stephen's religiously
indoctrinated meditations. O'Shea continues in his description of the cultural significance
of Joyce's Catholic allusions in Ulysses:
. . . the liturgical allusions in Ulysses is not the result of the artist's
imposing an arcane system of symbols upon his work, but is rather the
reflection of cultural threads woven through the fabric of Dublin life
which serves as the conscious and subconscious thoughts and words of
the Dubliners described in Ulysses. (133)
While the religious indoctrination of the characters is revealed through their continued
allusions, the physical manifestation of the Church's institutional power enhances the
internalization of that power, power which is "visible" but "unverifiable" (Foucault,
Discipline 201) Throughout Ulysses, Joyce reveals these ever-present physical
manifestation of Catholic power: the chapels, the church bells, crucifixes, charities,
clerics. In short, as Joyce related to his friend James Stephens, the Irish experience is
Catholic (Boyle 47).
Through Bloom and Stephen, Joyce presents a rich and varied perspective on the
monolithic power of Irish Catholicism in turn of the century Dublin. Their epic journey
on 16 June 1904, however, provides only a portion of Joyce's critique. Indeed, the
streets of Dublin come alive through his work because "Bloomsday" is a typical day--an
everyday--which unfolds for the reader the workings of a city, its flaws, its paralysis, its
joys, and its achievements. Ulysses becomes a cultural artifact through which Joyce
recreates Dublin. As Joyce would himself relate: "I want to give a picture of Dublin so
complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be
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