Telemachus 0047
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Mulligan’s friendly condescension in the first part of this chapter has now turned into something a little darker. “You have eaten all we left, I suppose,” a comment directed at Stephen, is basically insulting. Stephen is the last to leave the tower, and he has the key. He’s being treated like the help, like unreliable help, the “server of a servant” again.
For the sake of clarity we left a line out here — after the “You have eaten” line, Mulligan says “And going forth he met Butterly.” It’s yet another instance of Mulligan using scripture for a (rather elliptical) joke. It’s based on a passage in the passion of the Gospel of Matthew where the apostle Peter realizes that he has betrayed Jesus three times over the course of one night, as Jesus had predicted he would. The original passage is: “And going forth he wept bitterly.” Mulligan’s quote puts him, curiously, in the place of Peter, whereas before he was Jesus. There is no other mention of a Butterly in the book, by the way.
Finally, keep an eye on the key. It’s a symbol of ownership, property, and power.
Oh and one more thing — Rob, is it time to say something about the “Latin Quarter Hat”?
In a list of “most difficult chapters to read” this one would rank thankfully low – so low that it was even enjoyable. I certainly appreciated the break. This chapter consists of many smaller episodes all interlinked with each other and with the other events in the book, but most easy enough to understand the basics of what and where. That’s not to say the meaning is easy to get at but still the relief from all that stream of consciousness from one point of view is genuine.
Last time in “Seen” in Context I pondered the love and the money behind what we currently think of as webcomics. I’ve argued before and elsewhere the merits or lack thereof of even calling them webcomics because of the negative associations that word has, so I won’t go into that too much here. Though you might have noticed we occasionally use an alternative spelling (webcomix) to imply I suppose a more independently minded and mature audience. I accept that, even if it still draws more associations with The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers than it might with Asterios Polyp.
