Free Ulysses Essays: Buck Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus :: Joyce Ulysses Essays

burgeon forth Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus of Ulysses    Though I realize that Ulysses is a masterful paradigm of innovative techniques (or so the faculty of the university would subscribe bingle believe) - it is the conflicting natures of consign Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus which I find of primary (if non sole) interest.   Dedalus is a disillusi matchlessd, Jesuit trained academic with literary aspirations. His academic pursuits have led to a symbolic burning of his wings (his emotional detachment) as he rose to the en argus-eyedenment of the Sun. He tolerates neither the abusive Buck Mulligan nor the condescending Oxonian Haines (the coinhabitants of Martello Tower) and feigns interest in the citizenry of Dublin.   Buck Mulligan is a cynical man of action. He mocks Dedalus beliefs and intellectual prowess. Whereas Dedalus fears urine (perhaps symbolizing baptism) - Mulligan once saved a drowning man. Mulligan plunges into spiritedness while Stephen meekly q uestions existence and his place in reality. Mulligan brush aside ingratiate himself to the peasantry (see the encounter with the unpaid Milk woman) while Dedalus broods on Irish history and appears the elitist.   Stephen has been blinded by the Sun and lives in a amorphous world. His feelings of guilt (primarily concerning his mothers hideous death and the abandonment of his sisters to poverty) coupled with his sense of estrangement necessitates a continuous introspection as recourse. His relentless pursuit of positive truths (a concept dear to the Aristotelian Jesuits) clarifies little and fuels his discontent. As a teacher he is uncaring - oblivious to the inadequacies of his students. As an employee he is held in light regard. You were not born to be a teacher, I think...To learn one must be humble states the schoolmaster, Mr.Deasy (35). His literary views are scorned by his contemporaries and he is not considered a poet of any promise.   Yet Dedalus is a hero of a di fferent ilk. Stephen is a sincere thinker and as such is diametrically opposed to Mulligan - the man of action. He considers the result of his actions and grieves his perceived sins - Mulligan hides in cynicism.