Rudolf Bloom, Jr. Character Analysis in Ulysses

Leopold and Molly Bloom’s son Rudy died eleven days after he was born, about a decade before the events of Ulysses. They also haven’t had sex ever since. Bloom frequently remembers Rudy’s death, which he sees as a representation of his failure as a father and husband. Stephen Dedalus stands in for Rudy in the final episodes of the novel—especially at the end of “Circe,” when Bloom feels a sense of fatherly purpose while caring for Stephen, then has a vision of Rudy.

Rudolf Bloom, Jr. Quotes in Ulysses

The Ulysses quotes below are all either spoken by Rudolf Bloom, Jr. or refer to Rudolf Bloom, Jr.. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon

(Against the dark wall a figure appears slowly, a fairy boy of eleven, a changeling, kidnapped, dressed in an Eton suit with glass shoes and a little bronze helmet, holding a book in his hand. He reads from right to left inaudibly, smiling, kissing the page.)
BLOOM: (wonderstruck, calls inaudibly) Rudy!
RUDY: (gazes, unseeing, into Bloom’s eyes and goes on reading, kissing, smiling. He has a delicate mauve face. On his suit he has diamond and ruby buttons. In his free left hand he holds a slim ivory cane with a violet bowknot. A white lambkin peeps out of his waistcoat pocket.)

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 497

Explanation and Analysis:

At the very end of “Circe,” Bloom has a vision of his son Rudy as the schoolboy who he would be if he hadn’t died as an infant. During this vision, Bloom is standing over the fallen Stephen Dedalus, who the belligerent English soldier Private Carr has knocked unconscious. Of course, throughout the novel, Joyce has consistently linked Stephen with Rudy. Bloom feels lost and impotent because of Rudy’s death, while Stephen feels abandoned and rejected by his own father. Therefore, early on in the novel, Joyce sets them up as foils for each other—Bloom can give Stephen the father he’s missing and Stephen can take on the role of the son Bloom always wanted. After all, during the first half of the novel, Bloom and Stephen nearly intersect several times. When they finally do meet, Joyce makes it clear that this represents a symbolic union between father and son (in the context of the Odyssey, it represents Odysseus and Telemachus’s long-awaited reunion).

But for the first several hours of their time together, Bloom is frantically chasing after Stephen in an attempt to save him from his worst instincts—drunkenness, sexual impropriety, and extravagant spending. Stephen mostly ignores and runs away from him, until he gets knocked to the ground and Bloom finally gets the opportunity to save the day. Thus, it’s perfectly logical that this is the precise moment when Bloom has his serene vision of Rudy, the son he never got to see grow up.

Of course, this scene is also full of other symbolism. For instance, Bloom is like God standing over the fallen Jesus, waiting to resurrect him. This connects to his desire to resurrect Rudy, who appears as a Stephen-like schoolboy, reading from right to left (which implies that he’s reading the Torah in Hebrew). Bloom sees Rudy in Stephen and Stephen in Rudy, so this is also a notable example of metempsychosis—which is reincarnation, or souls traveling into other bodies. In short, this vision shows Bloom that it’s possible to address his grief over Rudy’s death and anxiety about his ability to father children by transferring those feelings onto another young man. For the time being, it’s Stephen, but the novel implies that he can also go on to have another son. Thus, this vision is Bloom’s great epiphany in the novel: it gives him the feeling of serenity, confidence, and fulfillment that he carries through the rest of Ulysses.

Rudolf Bloom, Jr. Character Timeline in Ulysses

The timeline below shows where the character Rudolf Bloom, Jr. appears in Ulysses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...girls” song. Bloom remembers when Milly was born and laments that his and Molly’s son, Rudy, died as an infant. He rereads the letter and wonders about her inevitable sexual awakening. (full context)

...ruffian” who he thinks will “ruin” Stephen. Bloom starts thinking about how his own son, Rudy, would be if he had survived and grown up. He remembers the day he and... (full context)

...men pass another funeral procession carrying a tiny child’s coffin. Bloom again remembers his son Rudy, and Power comments that suicide is “the greatest disgrace to have in the family,” but... (full context)

...and Molly were happier. But he admits that Molly “could never like it again after Rudy,” and he starts to think about Martha’s letter. Bloom looks around at the textile shop... (full context)

Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon

...Bloom to the Messiah and Ned Lambert remembers how excited Bloom was for his son Rudy’s birth. Martin agrees to have a drink with the other men, and he, the citizen,... (full context)

...mother die because it makes money from both birth (baptism) and death (funerals). He remembers Rudy’s birth and death, and the lambswool vest Molly knitted for his burial. The sonless Bloom... (full context)

...mother. As he stands protectively over Stephen with the ashplant, Bloom imagines his dead son Rudy as a handsome schoolboy. (full context)

...he didn’t attend Stephen’s mother’s funeral, which fell on the anniversary of his young son Rudy’s death. Stephen declines the guest room, and Bloom returns Stephen’s money, which he was safekeeping. (full context)

...of different constellations and thinks about the stars that shone during his, Stephen’s, his son Rudy’s, and Shakespeare’s births. (full context)

...the shoot. She remembers meeting Stephen when he was about eleven, after her infant son Rudy’s death. Before that, she also saw him at Mat Dillon’s house, when he was a... (full context)

...parents don’t appreciate their “fine son,” while she and Leopold had to bury their son Rudy when he was still an infant. Trying not to fall into “the glooms,” Molly asks... (full context)

Rudolf Bloom, Jr. Character Analysis

Rudolf Bloom, Jr. Quotes in Ulysses

Episode 15: Circe Quotes

Rudolf Bloom, Jr. Character Timeline in Ulysses