This section is packed. I was constantly flipping between the pages and trying to find where within the time signature, that Joyce establishes at the beginning of the chapter, we were. I know that Joyce does emply some anachronisms within the novel, yet I feel that he is obsessed with the timing of the day and the characters within this book. This is also a large focus for Stephen. Not just for the one day that we see him, but in general, Stephen feels time as an immanent force in his life. But what to say? I could go on about my admiration at Joyce's craft in this section, but that much is clearer here than it has been in other previous sections. I could also state how Joyce makes the thoughts of all of the characters in one room blend together through sound fragments and overheard conversations as well as past occurences.
But, I think that Bloom is really what is at stake in this section. He follows Boylan to the Ormond hotel. He writes off his third encounter with him as coincidence and yet chooses to see where he is headed. He also sits unnoticed in the hotel as people he was consorting with earlier do not even know he is present. He writes to Martha to arrange a meeting and before sending the letter regrets it. He thinks of first mmeeting Molly, he thinks of the community around him that he is not a part of and he hears himself and his wife being spoken about. It is beginning to break my heart.
The words exchanged between Henry Flower and Martha in writing are actually spoken by Simon Dedalus, "that was exceedingly naughty of you..."(261). This is one way that Joyce accomplishes creating a collective consciousness of what is happening between all the characters. I am left wondering though, if this is the same place where the concert of Molly is to take place and if the time siganture established by Joyce at the beginning of the chapter is supposed to fit with the piece Molly will be singing. Or if it is reflective of the pieces being sung by the other people at the hotel. Also is Bloom writing to Martha as Boylan is having sex with Molly? The onomatopoeia being used at times indicates a sort of flesh on flesh feeling, as well as some of images brought up are very sexual and involve wet caverns. Like around 284. I'm just not sure.
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I really like your notion of the collective consciousness in this section. When he starts calling out all the coincidences he see in this day, it reminds me that he is just a character in a novel. But throughout this whole work these coincidences have been showing up. For example in the earlier chapters Bloom and Stephen think similar thoughts while apart from each other. This happens a lot in the wandering rocks, because so many people notice or respond to similar things, like the Elijah is coming sign.
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