Ulysses

Ulysses

by

James Joyce

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Ulysses makes teaching easy.
Keys Symbol Icon

Keys represent the loss of home and the quest to recover it. At the beginning of the novel, Stephen Dedalus gives Buck Mulligan the key to his Martello tower and decides not to return. Meanwhile, Leopold Bloom leaves his key in the wrong pair of pants in the morning and forgets to retrieve it before Dignam’s funeral. Thus, Stephen and Bloom both leave home without their housekeys, which represents their sense of dispossession after other men (Buck and Boylan) usurp their authority over their houses. In turn, this loss of home represents their deeper sense of loneliness, confusion, and frustration with their lives in turn-of-the-century Dublin.

Meanwhile, the protagonists’ search for a key to their homes represents their search for a sense of belonging, connection, and purpose in life. But it’s not clear that they find it. Stephen ends the day literally homeless, wandering Dublin without a key or place to stay. Bloom ends the day comfortably in bed, but he has to break into his house through the basement because he doesn’t have his key. (In contrast, Blazes Boylan walked right through the front door when he visited to have sex with Molly.)

Secondarily, “keys”—or, in this case, Keyes—also represent Ireland’s quest for home rule (or independence from the English). A beverage merchant named Alexander Keyes hires Bloom to run an ad featuring a pair of crossed keys. This image is the logo for the House of Keys, the Isle of Man’s semi-independent parliament, which was a model for Irish nationalists seeking independence. In the context of the novel as a whole, these crossed keys also represent how Bloom and Stephen offer each other a fleeting sense of comfort and belonging when they cross paths.

Keys Quotes in Ulysses

The Ulysses quotes below all refer to the symbol of Keys. 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
).
Episode 1: Telemachus Quotes

I will not sleep here tonight. Home also I cannot go.
A voice, sweettoned and sustained, called to him from the sea. Turning the curve he waved his hand. It called again. A sleek brown head, a seal’s, far out on the water, round.
Usurper.

Related Characters: Stephen Dedalus (speaker), Haines, Malachi (“Buck”) Mulligan
Related Symbols: Keys
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Ulysses LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ulysses PDF

Keys Symbol Timeline in Ulysses

The timeline below shows where the symbol Keys appears in Ulysses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Episode 1: Telemachus
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
On their way out, Stephen grabs his ashplant and key, then explains to Haines that he rents the Martello tower for twelve pounds. He calls... (full context)
Literature, Meaning, and Perspective Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...smokes. Stephen says he’s leaving. Before walking off, Stephen tosses Buck two pennies and the key to the tower, then promises to meet him at a bar called The Ship at... (full context)
Episode 4: Calypso
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
...piece of paper inside his hat and his lucky potato in his pants pocket. His key is in another pair of pants, but he doesn’t want to disturb his wife by... (full context)
Episode 7: Aeolus
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
...and explains that Keyes wants to reprint it, along with a new logo: two crossed keys surrounded by a circle. Bloom explains that this is a reference to the fight for... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
Irish Identity and Nationalism Theme Icon
Lenehan and MacHugh watch through the window as Bloom walks away, and Crawford jingles his keys around and proposes the newsmen go drink with Lambert and Dedalus. O’Molloy, MacHugh, and Crawford... (full context)
Episode 17: Ithaca
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Love and Sex Theme Icon
Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon
When they arrive at Bloom’s house, Bloom realizes that he doesn’t have his keys. Rather than waking up Molly, he climbs over the railing, endures a fall, and enters... (full context)
Alienation and the Quest for Belonging Theme Icon
Love and Sex Theme Icon
Fate vs. Free Will Theme Icon
...Dedalus note a star shooting towards the Leo constellation, and then Bloom sticks his “male key in the hole of an unstable female lock” and opens the gate for Stephen to... (full context)