James Joyce -Passage Analysis

I think I'll go from the last full paragraph on 150 to the last full one on 151. This is the long detailed hysteria of Dedalus after he hears the long hell sermon and has the freaky nightmare, as he runs through the streets to find a priest to confess to. Solely for the sake that Dedalus is completely nuts right now. He continues on and on about how he absolutely must confess, how he's no more than an animal, how it's so terrible what he's done, etc. etc. etc. This particular stream of thought seems to occur in a relatively short span of time (while the following run through the streets occurs over a longer span of time), and is there only to convey how upset and repentant he is. He was never particularly interested in prostitutes. Even on that night where he first went to one, he was more interested in just standing there in her arms, rather than having sex. But he more or less got hooked on it and even then wasn't too particularly proud of it. He's really sorry for what he did, but now he's just in a state of panic.

The previous hell sermon was one of the longest and most detailed descriptions of hell I've ever heard, and am likely ever to hear. Of course, this sermon scares Dedalus stiff. It affects him so much he goes straight into this panic and goes tearing through the streets, thinking "Confess! Confess!" (Joyce 150). Relax, Dedalus. You're not going to suddenly up and die. He's that panicked that he's afraid of dying and then going straight to hell, or even, judging from the top of page 151, sinning again and making it worse. He's a complete nervous wreck. This passage was particularly effective for two reasons. One, the short sentences and many exclamatory sentences help to convey the sense that there is some grand emergency. Knowing that there isn't really that much of an emergency, we know that Dedalus is pretty miserable right now, and feeling very guilty. The second reason is because, unlike the hell sermon, which was long, detailed, and despite being quite detailed, a bit boring. It was just descriptions and scripture, and seemed to drag on and on. This segment, though, is written in short shouts and bursts, and gives a better sense of the emotion involved. Where the preacher seemed to be just up there giving a speech, Dedalus seems to be almost being chased by oblivion. Quite effective if not a little over-dramatic.

This also seems to reflect how overly pious Dedalus still is. Despite his sinful habits, he still is actually quite religious still. In fact, he's able to reflect back on religion frequently. This stresses, though, that religion still forms the basis of all of his opinions at the moment. Religion still rules his mind.