The Endings of Chapter I and II: Similar and Different

            We spent a lot of time talking about the comparisons of the end of Chapter I to the end of Chapter II. I believe there’s a slight distinction between the similar mood at the end of each chapter. In class, we talked about the immense importance of the senses at the end of these Chapters. Chapter I finishes with a smooth soft sensory overload.

“The cheers died away in the soft grey air. He was alone. He was happy and free: (…) The air was soft and grey and mild and evening was coming. There was the smell of evening in the air, the smell of the fields in the country where they digged up turnips to peel them and eat them when they went out for a walk to Major Barton’s, the smell there was in the little wood beyond the pavilion where the gallnuts were. (…) In the soft grey silence he could hear the bump of the balls: and from here and from there through the quiet air the sound of the cricket bats: pick, pack, pock, puck: like drops of water in a fountain falling softly in the brimming bowl” (Joyce 60-61).

            Sorry for the long quote, but I really want to show just much soft sounds and feels there are in a short half page quote.  There are so many references to soft grey air, soft grey silence, and the smells of the field and evening. Chapter III ends in a similar fashion.

“He closed his eyes, surrendering himself to her, body and mind, conscious of nothing in the world bit the dark pressure of her softly parting lips. They pressed upon his brain as upon his lips as though they were the vehicle of a vague speech; and between them he felt an unknown and timid pressure, darker than the swoon of sin, softer than sound or odour” (Joyce 108).

           We talked about the alliteration and the “s” consonant adds this smooth feel to ending. The softness of the wording, with swoon of sin, comparing to the “soft grey silence,” of the first Chapter. There’s also a major idea of the sense of smell being important at the end of both Chapters. Chapter I talks about the smell of the fields, and the woods where the gallnuts were, and Chapter II ends with the phrase, “softer than sound or odour.” The similar senses and feels make the endings comparable. However, there’s a clear distinction in where these chapters end in the characters point of view. The end of chapter one features this sense of ruckus, triumph, and ultimately calmness. I think the way chapter II ends, sets up an almost opposite order of events.

               Joyce spares us, the readers, from the narration of Stephen’s first sexual experience, leaving out the so called, “ruckus,” or “triumph” part. It’s hard to put sexual actions in a “triumph” point of view, but Stephen is known to revel in his sins, until they pile up on him. This can be supported with the sense of Stephen being proud of just how many sins he has committed while confessing in Chapter III.  “Ruckus,” here is the sexual actions we don’t hear about, but what Joyce does tell us, is this smooth calm feeling we can directly relate to the end of the first Chapter. This is interesting to me, as there’s this similar feel, but they are also very different, and I think that says something about Stephen growing up. Stephen “escapes” the crowd of fellows at the end of Chapter I, and “surrendered himself to her,” at the end of Chapter II. Stephen has changed, and the narration has changed with it.