Ulysses, Episode VI: Hades

Following on from Bloom's stream of thought in Lotus Eaters, we follow him as he attends the funeral procession of Paddy Dignam. Hades, aptly named through its recurrent themes of death and ghosts; which Joyce referred to as 'incubism', focuses on Bloom's reaction to death. Paradoxically, attention is drawn to how the living cope with bereavement as Bloom states: 'more sensible to spend the money on some charity for the living'.
 As he rides along in the carriage with Martin Cunningham, Stephen Daedalus and friends, Bloom is thinking about 'if little Rudy had lived' (p.86) relating to his son who passed away at an early age. The conversation wavers from social events such as Marion Bloom's upcoming concert with Blazes Boylan to the uncomfortable subject of suicide where Bloom is haunted by the image of his deceased father. M.r Power, sitting in the carriage says of suicide: 'the greatest disgrace to have in the family' (p.93). To which: 'M.r Bloom, about to speak, closed his lips again' (p.93). Bloom is reminded of the untimely death of his father as he recalls the coroner's verdict: 'overdose. Death by misadventure. The letter. For my son Leopold.' (p.93). Bloom's emotion is summed up by the phrase: 'No more pain. Wake no more. Nobody owns.' (p.93). It is this forced acceptance of the inevitable that leads Bloom to question the rituals of death with a cynical view. As they arrive at the service, Bloom says: 'makes them feel more important to be prayed over in Latin' and that the priest 'said he (Dignam) was going to paradise or is in paradise. Says that over everybody. Tiresome kind of job. (p100). Bloom's derision for rituals for the dead is similar to Daedalus' rejection of religious doctrine in Portrait of the Artist, although here in Ulysses, Joyce uses the experience of an adult narrative to give a more learned argument against religion rather than Daedalus' youthful rebellion in Portrait. Still, Bloom thinks like Daedalus, he is unfazed by religious superstition yet is haunted by his own memory.
Hades sees the first encounter of the two protagonists, Bloom and Daedalus and although they only make small talk in the carriage, much is revealed about the similarities and differences between their characters. It has already been established that Daedalus is presented through cerebral narrative whilst Bloom, the corporeal but that they both share the nightmare of history and its ghosts is significant to the novel as a whole.
The Hades episode is not just about death, it is about how death affects the living.