I Wanna Rock!

"The Wandering Rocks" represents the beginning of the second half of the novel (chapter 10 out of 18), and the first of what will become a series of radical experiments in form. In Homer, this episode is not even really an episode, but rather a few lines in which Circe warns Odysseus to stay away from these rocks, which appear, disappear, and reappear in the sea. Thus, like many of the wanderings in this chapter, it is a "near miss." This chapter contains 19 sections, or short vignettes, many of which occur simultaneously; rather than being organized chronologically according to time, the chapter presents itself spatially, as a sort of birds-eye view of Dublin. In fact, one can argue that in this chapter, Dublin itself is the central protagonists (though our friends Stephen and Bloom make appearances as well). The chapter begins with religion (Father Conmee) and concludes with politics (the visiting Viceroy). In the 5th section, Blazes Boylan buys "fat pears" and "ripe shamefaced peaches" for Molly, while in the 10th section Bloom is simultaneously buying her a soft porn novel, Sweets of Sin. In sections 11 and 13, we meet the destitute Dilly Dedalus, who receives no financial assistance from her father or her brother.