February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“Joyce makes this parallel central to his novel through the character of Leopold Bloom, a Dublin Jew with Hungarian, middle European roots,” said John McCourt, a University of Trieste professor.
In fact, Bloom’s presence in the novel highlights many important elements of Joyce’s story. The theme of alienation present in most of his works is more apparent in “Ulysses” through the Jewish Bloom’s separation from his Catholic friends and neighbors. In addition, some see Bloom’s complicated personality as a reflection of Joyce’s own.
As Fordham’s Philip Sicker said, “[Bloom] shares many of Joyce’s own preoccupations — with cultural alienation, paternal insecurity, religious guilt and the burden of history.”
The issues of cultural identity raised by Bloom’s mixed heritage [his mother Ellen Higgins was a gentile] are an example of the complexity of character that Joyce treasures.
“These kinds of gray areas are the areas that Joyce is interested in exploring,” said Professor Neil Davison.