Leopold Bloom to be deported

bobbyjoe

"In one famous sequence, a bigoted nationalist, known as the Citizen, confronts Joyce's nebbishy Jewish hero, Leopold Bloom, demanding to know "what is your nation". "Ireland," Bloom replies. "I was born here." Under Ireland's newly amended Constitution, his answer would no longer be sufficient."

from

http://www.counterpunch.org/browne06152004.html

Doh!

simu

The ironing of it.:(

arcadegame2004

No because Leopold Bloom's mother was Irish (a Higgins). LOL

simu

his answer would no longer be sufficient.

Leopold Bloom's mother was Irish

He'd have to modify the answer: "My mother was Irish, here's her birth cert, here's mine, now that I've proven that I'm an Irish person could you please go off and pick on somebody else, dear Citizen".

arcadegame2004

Oh what a terrible ordeal that would be!

simu

Twould be somewhat unpleasant, yes.

bobbyjoe

Leopold Bloom get into fierce barroom political debate with a bunch of characters that include 'the citizen' - a fierce Irish nationalist and anti-semite.

- Persecution, says he, all the history of the world is full of it. Perpetuating national hatred among nations.

- But do you know what a nation means? says John Wyse.

- A nation? says Bloom. A nation is the same people living in the same place.

- By God, then, says Ned, laughing, if that's so I'm a nation for I'm living in the same place for the past five years.

So of course everyone had a laugh at Bloom and says he, trying to muck out of it:

- Or also living in different places.
- That covers my case, says Joe.

- What is your nation if I may ask, says the citizen.
- Ireland, says bloom. I was born here. Ireland.

The citizen said nothing only cleared the spit out of his gullet and, gob, he spat a Red bank oyster out of him right in the corner.

- And I belong to a race too, says Bloom, that is hated and persecuted. Also now. This very moment. This very instant.

Gob, he near burnt his fingers with the butt of his old cigar.
- Robbed, says he. Plundered. Insulted. Persecuted. Taking what belongs to us by right.

- Are you talking about the new Jerusalem, says the citizen.
- I'm talking about injustice, says Bloom.

- Right, says John Wyse. Stand up to it then with force like men.

- But it's no use, says he. Force, hatred, history, all that. That's not life for men and women, insult and hatred. And everybody knows that it's the very opposite of that that is really life.

- What? says Alf.

- Love, says Bloom. I mean the opposite of hatred. I must go now, he says to John Wyse....

James Joyce, Ulysses

simu

As for the whole "Being born in a stable does not make one a horse"
thing...

The state of being a horse is not something that's conferred upon an animal - it either is a horse by virtue of having horse genes or it is not (just as every human is genetically human, otherwise they'd be part of some non-human species).

But, horses could decide to make distinctions between horses that were born in fields and horses that were born in stables - there would then be two types of horse - Stablish and Fieldish, lets say. Stablish Horses would then have the choice of whether horses become Stablish because their parents were Stablish or because they were born in a stable. Either decision would be arbitrary as Stablish and Fieldish are just social constructions that can be modified at will.

As for other animals born in a stable, they would never become horses but the Stablish horses could decide to conferr the title of Stablish on other animals, if they wished.