Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus in Ulises They could be called metaphorical and spiritual exiles, because they are alienated, lonely, and exiled within their native culture. This is what Edward Said calls a metaphorical, rather than a physical, exile in the colonial societies of modern times. Bloom has had many religious conversions. Stephen, on the other hand, struggles to invent a new religion of art for his own identity.
Leopold Bloom, who represents “every Jew” and a wandering Jew in Dublin, has been an outcast from the start in the city’s fervent Catholic atmosphere. Bloom’s Judaism and the Jewish reputation for not having a homeland of their own make him famous among Dubliners. He has converted from his Jewish religion to Catholicism to marry his beloved wife. On the other hand, he has converted to Protestantism. This is unthinkable in the nationalistic and quasi-religious society, what Joyce and Stephen consider hypocritical, the Dublin society. Although Bloom calls Dublin “home and beauty” (435), he does not appear to belong to any specific religion or nationality in Dublin. Based on Bloom’s various conversions, it could be deduced that there was no peace of mind or spirituality for him in any of these religions. Consequently, this adds to the fact that most religious authorities have been denied and rejected, at least once, by Bloom. This is a representation of a man’s spiritual exile in a world on the brink of modernization and, of course, transition. A common man / a Jew who does not believe in any religion flourishes, his lonely soul yearns for justice, love and peace for all men. Y women. While living in a world occupied by injustice and cruelty, in which people like him are humiliated just for having a different religion. This is the spiritual exile of Bloom, a person who feels lonely, friendless and loveless in her hometown and within her family.
Stephen Dedalus is one of the most radical symbols of young modern intellectuals / artists who are forced into exile within the communities in which they live. Stephen’s rejection of all official religious, political and social institutions, in addition to his theory of self-authorship, leads him to the final destination of exile. His notion of self-authorship amounts to the rejection of every biological father, every pope or king, whether Irish or British. All these revolutionary and rebellious notions definitely cause great conflict and disagreement between Stephen and the society in which he lives. Thus, he chooses the hermetic life of an artist outside Ireland, whose art Stephen compares to the “cracked mirror of a servant” (OR 46). This definition of Irish art that he gives shows his deep alienation and hatred for his native art and culture. Stephen’s spiritual exile is further intensified when considering his desire for an artistic career within the restrictive environment of Ireland. This is while following the career of a priest, when the church promises to offer its servants the power of all the keys (P 92), would safeguard, at least, a safe and comfortable economic life for him and his family. However, Stephen rejects such a powerful but useless position to himself.
Bloom and Stephen’s denial of authoritative institutions like established religion makes them similar in their spiritual perplexity. None of them seem to be able to find peace and serenity in any of the established religions. They have to convert or deny and establish another religion again. In this sense, they are both metaphorical exiles in a busy soul realm, as well as a busy home. The existence of foreign forces distresses the condition of living in Ireland.
Thus, and consequently, metaphorically speaking, an exile from the novel yearns to adopt the other exile instead of a lost son or an incapable father. When near the end of the Nighttown episode, Stephen in his drunken state engages in an oral argument with a British soldier and shouts “I have no king” and “Let my country die for me” (522), he is attacked by the English soldier and his companions. At the same time, Mulligan, after wasting Stephen’s money again, abandons him and leaves him drugged and dry. Bloom, who has witnessed the argument, takes Stephen’s cane and watches over him. He says, “I know him. He’s a gentleman, a poet. It’s okay” (OR 522). At such a critical moment, Bloom’s compassionate and imaginative act momentarily turns Stephen into her son. A lone wandering figure stands guard over another lone, attacked and wandering at the end of a hard day of exile. Although in the end, unlike in Indian or Dickensian fiction, Stephen rejects Bloom’s offer of refuge, they come together as two exiled and shipwrecked sons and father, at least for a few hours. Joyce himself in Ulises mentions this unification of Bloom and Stephen with a suggestion to substitute the two names as “stoom for Stephen and blephen for Bloom. The inversion of the names could be a sign that they merged and became one soul in two bodies “(OR 603).
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