‘Bro. Bloom’s anniversary’

    

Nineteen twenty-two was an axial year for English-language literature, and much of the credit belongs to James Joyce for his Ulysses, published in full for the first time on this date a century ago.

For both its style and content, the novel follows the West’s transition into the modern era of world war, global pandemic, broadcast communication, human flight, assembly lines, and other revolutions. To my knowledge, there hadn’t been a story comparable to Ulysses published before. Of course there was Homer’s Odyssey, which inspired Joyce’s overall story arc, but the stories and the styles in which they’re told are as different as the centuries from which they come. I can’t delve into the author’s style here, and I will be selective about his story’s content. I’ll just get to the point: Leopold Bloom, the hero (if that’s the right word) of Ulysses, is said to be a Freemason.

Within the 700 or so pages, there isn’t a passage in the plot or a hint in the character development that puts Bloom on the Square. Rather there are things said about him to juxtapose his otherness (a Jewish man in Dublin) with an alleged social connectivity. To wit:

Nosey Flynn made swift passes in the air with juggling fingers. He winked. He’s in the craft, he said.

Do you tell me so? Davy Byrne said.

Very much so, Nosey Flynn said. Ancient free and accepted order. He’s an excellent brother. Light, life and love, by God. They give him a leg up. I was told that by a—well, I won’t say who.

Is that a fact?

O, it’s a fine order, Nosey Flynn said. They stick to you when you’re down. I know a fellow was trying to get into it. But they’re as close as damn it. By God they did right to keep the women out of it.

Davy Byrne smiledyawnednodded all in one: Iiiiiichaaaaaaach!

There was one woman, Nosey Flynn said, hid herself in a clock to find out what they do be doing. But be damned but they smelt her out and swore her in on the spot a master mason. That was one of the saint Legers of Doneraile.

The story takes place on June 16, 1904, known to us today as Bloomsday, and it is that date that I really consider to be Bro. Bloom’s anniversary. In addition to today being the centenary of the publication of Ulysses, it is the 140th birthday of its author, the daring Mr. Joyce. Vivat!