The Ithaca episode of Ulysses made me think of a particle collider, when two particles of different types meet each other they interact for a brief speck of time, exchange their stuff, and move on to infinity. This idea led me to a simple algebraic/geom. model of this collision of infinitesimal masses--it is written as a mathematical catechism after all.
The two axes x and y are Bloom and Stephen respectively. The Ithaca chapter and the general personality of the two throughout the book (ie. their micturations in Ithaca) support the Stephen=Vertical, Bloom=Horizontal substitution. Molly would be the Z-axis: always present but not seen in this two-d world; she fleshes-out the graph.
The rest is simple enough. Stephen and Bloom each have their own time, linked up by the story itself. Thus the line Stephen=Bloom is exactly Ulysses. After they collide and separate sometime in the Circe chapter, they move on to infinity though not without an exchange of momentum and ideas (ie 'Stoom' and 'Blephen' in Ithaca).
1 comments:
That diagram should be included in every copy of Ulysses! Well done!
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