Interpretation of passage in James Joyce’s Ulysses by shmoop.com:
“…The prose in the last few pages of Ulysses is breathtakingly beautiful. Throughout Bloom’s day, we’ve been forced to see all the banal unattractive parts of life: boredom, hunger, despair, the need to go to the bathroom, broken trust, small-mindedness, unrealizable dreams, apathy, our own insignificance. Joyce gives us a lot of very good reasons to think that life is a pretty tiny and horrible thing. Of course, we read this and we think that our life isn’t going to be like Bloom’s. I mean, he’s one pathetic guy, our life will be infinitely better than Bloom’s. But, truth be told, we have no way of knowing what our life is going to be. It’s quite possible that one day we’ll find ourselves in Bloom’s shoes, in a marriage based more in fondness than in romantic love, in a place where most of our dreams are stretched out behind us rather than laid out in front of us. And for all that, Joyce is telling us: Do not despair. He’s telling us to say yes to life, to swallow it whole, to find happiness wherever we can…”
Quote Source: proustitute. Image: wallquotes.com.
When the boys were little and Andy and I had first met, we learned quickly that oen of our biggest differences was that I would say ‘yes’ whenever possible and save my ‘nos’ for when I really meant them. He was the total opposite (he’s gotten better :-)). And now I have to remind myself that ‘yes’ isn’t just reserved for others – it’s available to us as well. And by ‘us’ my friend – I mean ‘us’.
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🙂 Yes to all. And us. 🙂
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“Say yes to life, swallow it whole.” That’s powerful medicine. And WMS is so wise and so right….’yes’ is available to all of us. I’m finally beginning to understand that….
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Yes! Me too Lori (just recently and much to learn)
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“He’s telling us to say yes to life, to swallow it whole, to find happiness wherever we can…” A resounding YES to that. Make each day count, find something in each and every day to feel grateful for, to express kindness, to find beauty which is so easy to see, to love.
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Yes!
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YES to my life–all of it!!
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Yes!
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Even though it wouldn’t be simple to say YES to everything that comes our way but he is right that’s how life is in fact this is called LIFE. Besides, the interpretation is very simple but full of meaning . Thanks Dave (:
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Deep so early in the morning Sonia. Like it!
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Time difference between Karachi, Pakistan and New York, USA is 9 hours. So, Karachi is 9:0 hours ahead of New York David (:
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Ah yes. I’m giving you too much credit (again)!
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Thank you! (:
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