This, being the middle of the book, made me both content and anxious. Though I am excited that I have gotten thus far in reading such an important piece of literature, I am terrified that I still have half the book to read. But god be praised. The bridging chapter was not a tuffy. As like some of the chapters we have seen in the past. This one was a walk in the park, or a walk in Dublin for that matter. I saw this chapter really as a breath of fresh air. Coincidently “The Wandering Rocks” is an episode in the Odyssey where Ulysses avoids an inescapable violence. So, at the end of the chapter I sort of felt like Ulysses having just dodged an esoteric bullet.

On another topic, the text. I found one passage in particular to be quite illuminating, where Haines and Mulligan are talking about Steven and how he will never become a poet. “They drove his wits astray, he said [Buck Mulligan], by visions of hell.” “Eternal punishment, Haines said, nodding curtly.” (p.249) Mulligan and Haines agree that it is Stevens religious upbringing that keeps him from his poetic destiny. I agree with this completely. Steven lacks emotional experience. Like Faust, who lived in the book, by the book, Steven needs to take a step into reality. He needs to feel love and heartbreak. Steven needs to walk in Blooms shoes.