James Joyce: Ulysses

James Joyce was born February 1882 in Dublin. Chapter 15 of his book Ulysses is one characters stream of consciousness, repressed fears and wish fulfillment as he spends one night in a brothel.
Bloom hallucinates continually about sex and fantasies as his sub-conscious gets the better of him.
The whole chapter is like one big dream in terms of the way Bloom even changes clothes according to the situations he finds himself in. He may lose himself in a fantasy for an hour but find that little to no time has passed in the real world.

Towards the beginning of the chapter, Bloom hallucinates his mother and father are with him and reprimanding him on the state of his clothes. Although he is muddy because he almost got run over, he becomes ashamed and tells his father that it's because he has been playing with the other children. On top of this, we become aware that his outfit has changed to that of a young boy's. This feeling of fear and unworthiness in front of a father figure has echoes of Sigmund Freud's belief in the Oedipus complex. Bloom feels like a child, and this is reflected in his outwardly behavior. Throughout the chapter, Bloom is also looking to become a father figure to the other character of Stephen. This is due to the fact Bloom recently lost his real son and has the instinct to feel like a father again. Therefore their is a common theme of father and son through the chapter.

Woman in the chapter are all either prostitutes, whores, ugly, mean or crazy. The woman's attire is described like "vicelike corsets" or "restrained in net tight frocks"; language associated with traps and limited means of escape. When Bloom is visited by his grandfather (yet another dream sequence), Virag lectures on womans clothing and how it is highly deceiving. Aspects of a dress such as the rouched bits which hide the fat, and the padded bits for enhancement, so that when you strip it down, it's nothing like what you anticipated. Woman are temptresses who entice you in. "The vice of her painted eyes".
On top of that, one female character; Zoe, also appears to dabble in witchcraft. She reads Blooms palm, while a chalked circle appears on the floor. Two signs that back in the early century were sure signs of evil and witchcraft.
The woman Bloom meets within his hallucinations all treat him like dirt. They beat him either mentally or physically and he even turns into a camel when faced with his wife.

Bloom also gets visited by a nymph at one point within the brothel. A nymph that saw Bloom having sex many years ago within the forest. She (another woman who is not normal) is annoyed that Bloom had disrespected the forest in such a hideous way. She claims that he took the forests innocence. Since the trees and the animals that were witness to Blooms crime, did not consent (I'm assuming) to having their innocence removed, the implication is clear that Bloom essentially raped the forest of it's purity. However, Bloom reminds her that sex is a "natural phenomenon" and that sex and nature are linked. At the beginning of the novel two characters discuss the fact that "even the all wisest Stagyrite was bitted, bridled and mounted by a light of love". Stating that even the greats like Shakespeare turn into animals when it comes to sex. Eventually, the nymph has to agree and disappears, albeit in a worse mood than when she arrived.


The whole chapter allows the reader to see Bloom's worst fears, deep seated worries and his fantasies. He turns from a sheepish child in front of his father, to a burdened camel in front of his wife, and still yet to a power hungry and selfish ruler during another fantasy. We see every side of his personality and the argument remains whether James Joyce revealed himself through the character of Bloom, or whether the book is merely a work of fiction. But as the chapter itself states: "Sleep reveals the worst part of everyone".

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was a German psychologist born 6 May 1856. Born into a matriarchal society, his theories tended to blame a lot of psychological problems on the mother and demean woman overall.

People's problems in adult life could be always be linked back to childhood and the restrictions that had been placed on them during this time. His Psychosexual analysis of childhood incorporates five stages. If a person was not allowed to complete one of these stages succesfully, they would become fixated in later life and therefore could be attributed to certain dysfunctions. These stages were as follows.
The Oral Stage: Children have a need, during the weaning process, to put things in their mouth. At this age it's how they explore the world and understand new things. If a child is prevented from doing this, it's believed that in his adult life, he will often have addictions like smoking, drinking, or even habits such as nail biting or chewing pens.
The next stage is the Anal Phase. Toilet training and learning to control yourself is obviously a vital element of growing up. Positive feedback potentially means a well adjusted adult, if the child recieves negative feedback, he runs the risk of being anal retentive; in which the child becomes overly tidy or organised, or anal expulsive; when the child becomes destructive or disgustingly messy.
Next is the phallic stage. This is where the child begins to differentiate between males and females, as well as being focused on the genitals. This ties in which the Oedipus complex where the male child wants to own and have a relationship with the mother; while holding a deep resentment towards the father. This jelousy eventually turns to a fear that the father will discover his sons intentions and castrate him. After this realisation, the son instead sides with the father and rejects the mother. He learns from the father and creates his male identity.
On the other hand, girls suffer from penis envy. She will also resent the mother for not giving her a penis and will try and identify with the father. In time, she will come to replace her penis envy with the acceptance of having a womb. However; since she has already identified with the father, she creates two seperate identities, both male and female. This, according to Freud means woman are sexually weaker and genetically all bisexual.
Next was the Latency stage. This stage was a period of calm, before puberty the child represses his sexual desires and does not think about them. But then finally there is the genital stage in which the desire for relationships kicks in. If all has already gone well in previous stages than the teenager in this stage has a far better chance of gaining a normal and steady relationship.

Freud also focused on the Id, the Ego and the Superego. Three aspects of a persons subconscious which controlled how you acted in social situations. The Id was your pleasure principle. It works off of instincts and it's main concern is you and your wants. Regardless of other people. The Ego is there to control the Id, the Ego deals with common sense and rationale. Okay you may be hungry enough to eat everything you see in the supermarket (your Id), but you know that that would be wrong thanks to your Ego. Lastly, the Superego will actively punish you for misbehavior with features such as guilt. Your Superego is more like your conscience, and acts as a moral guide as opposed to just common sense and instinct.

Freud linked everything he could back to parenthood and theories such as Oedipus. Even though he only ever based his theories upon one person and therefore just one case study. In the case of phobias, he studied a boy called Little Hans who had a fear of horses. Even though Freud discovered Hans had; when he was younger, seen a horse collapse and die of exhaustion one day in the street, Freud decided that Hans' phobia was due to his father. He managed to theorize that at one point during Hans' childhood, his father had, like so many do, got down on all fours and carried Hans around like an animal. As Hans would have been young enough at this point to be going through Freuds' Oedipus complex, Hans of course associated a fear of his father, into a fear of horses and therefore just displaced his phobia. Of course to Freud this proved two of his theories beyond belief.

Freud truly believed that everybody had repressed feelings of anxiety or desire and that this showed itself in your everyday life through various means. His theory was that your mind was like an iceberg. Only the tip of it was showing above the water, but beneath, remaining unseen, was an incredible amount of hidden material which he believed he could get to, if you just agreed to lie on his couch.

WINOL WINOL WINOL

Sat in the newsroom on the morning of a bulletin, which is what I'm doing now. There is an element of panic. Although everything always ends up running smoothly in the end, and our viewers see the calm veneer of what we produce; we let ourselves fall victim to the frenzy of a Wednesday morning.

This comes about by factors such as not enough news packages. One Wednesday saw WINOL have a total of only two news packages, as three pm rolled around, we had a total of three. On the verge of calling off the bulletin we eventually pulled it together and scrounged a news show out of what we had. Practice makes perfect and we have certainly had enough practice running around like headless chickens.

As fresh little second years, being added to the news team is almost like being chucked into the deep end-I wouldn't say it's filled with sharks because the third years have been more than helpful in helping us get started but there is always an element of learning on the job. Learning by mistakes and taking on constructive criticism.

Debriefs every Wednesday afternoon after the bulletin has aired show mistakes that, as the year progresses, we learn to spot and avoid ourselves. Mistakes such as where to place interviewees for appropriate backgrounds and audio. I'm not a news reporter myself, my role is Sub Editor, but watching the points made about the reporters news packages is still helpful for taking on board what not to do in a real job.

As Sub Editor my role is to take the reporters news, sports and fashion pieces and check them. Check them for spelling mistakes or even legal problems which could potentially create a law suit against the university. No pressure then! To say our WINOL roles strain friendships could be argued as very true, as people chase each other up and get increasingly stressed as we all depend on one another to keep the programme running. The director needs the script, the script writer needs information from the reporters, the reporters need the computers to keep working! My extra job is also to run around on bulletin day and get times from the news reporters, cut the time by three seconds and put it on the script so the director knows when to cue the presenters during the show. As much as it runs like clockwork, it's all we can do to not bite each others head off as we all try and focus on our own role in the bigger picture.

But we manage to keep each other sweet and it's still not enough to keep us meeting up in the pub later (or even holding impromptu dance parties on a Tuesday evening). Small problems that we encounter can be fixed with the smallest thing, for instance better communication between the hierarchy. Audio problems and green screen problems will be found anywhere and instances such as that set us up for the real world, and a real job.

We do often sit down and wonder what it would be like to do a normal uni course, just merely have lectures and classes to attend rather than a nine to five job. Yet the feeling after the bulletin goes out and Cooper has had his post WINOL Galaxy Ripple, you realise how worth it it all is.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is in essence, an anti-bible. His disbelief in the Christian faith led to his writings opposing most of the Christian values. Like for instance Zarathustra's favorite animal is the snake. A creature that in Christian terms, is the reason for Adam and Eve being led astray. Yet this to Zarathustra is what he wants from humanity; individuality from the herd.

The aim of Zarathustra is to explain to mankind about the "ubermensch" or overman. Mankind as it is now is simply a bridge between apes and the overman that he speaks of. He explains that humans will eventually become bland, unthinking and without chaos since; "one must have chaos within one to give birth to a dancing star". Mankind will eventually fail to reproduce anything worthwhile unless they at least try to become the overman.

A common theme within the text is the concept of the abyss. The abyss and the bridge that crosses it is the idea that the road to becoming the overman is dangerous. Filled with obstacles, it should be hesitant and faulting. Like a tightrope walker-coincidentally this is exactly what Zarathustra sees when he first enters the village. When the tightrope walker falls and dies, Zarathustra tells him that he didn't die failing as it would appear; but he died trying. Therefore he is set apart from all the other people who do nothing toward their future.

Laughter and childhood innocence is also a factor which Zarathustra praises. His three metamorphoses' include, the camel; taking on burdens and working hard. The lion; strength, and courage of conviction to take control, and then the child. The child's innocence beats the lions strength in Zarathustra's values. These three stages will help you on your way to becoming the overman. The overman can laugh at anything he wants and does so, because he has risen above all others.

"God is dead" is a famous saying from Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Taken out of context this may seem like a blatant refusal of the Christian faith, but in reality Zarathustra was acknowledging that at one point God may have been alive, but there is the possibility that he died a long time ago. The fact that humans still revere and worship him is an example of their inability to think for themselves.

Zarathustra had strong beliefs that people should think for themselves and be individual. By his teachings he hoped people would eventually achieve this.

Kate Nash v. Example. The Big Debate

After reading my close friend Gareth Messenger's blog on the large debate between Kate Nash and Example, I have been spurred into action to retaliate.
Gareth admits he has taste in dance and electro-pop. What he means by this, and after thorough inspection of his ipod, is a mix of chart hits, and album tracks from chart hits. Where was the Belle & Sebastian? Where was the Death Cab For Cutie? The Cardigans? And more importantly, where was the Kate Nash? Mr Messenger claims to have a varied taste in music, yet his music taste merely ranges from 1-40 according to this weeks releases. I myself range from Lady Gaga, to Coheed and Cambria. From Adam and the Ants, to Joan Jett and still further to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Although not calling myself a music mogul, I believe I have more to say on this matter than the boy who has John and Edward on his ipod.
Yes, admittedly Kate Nash did not have many chart hits. To Mr Messenger who’s bible is the UK top 40, this would be an issue. But to the average music appreciator it is generally a small if not ignorable fact. Kate Nash is to me, my young teenage years. On the day her first album was released I was 16 and in Blackpool with my two best friends. Our first holiday alone without parents. A time of messy relationships, crushes and angst. Made Of Bricks captured this perfectly. With lyrics such as “I’m sitting with my friends getting drunk again on wine and I think about you”, and further lyrics which capture conversations such as “I heard she’s easy and if your guys with someone that’s sleazy then he isn’t worth your time ‘cos you deserve a real nice guy”. It captured the essence of what we ourselves were going through. What we figured was important at that point in our lives, and to this day they provide a welcome bopping and singing session whilst making a cup of tea in the kitchen. Her second album “My Best Friend Is You”, is more angry. A lot more heavy and with deeper subject matters, a main factor of her second album is sex. Now 19 years old, it’s still relateable, still with the same incredible beats and certain songs such as “Mansion Song” give you an excuse to jump around the house, shaking your hair and shouting the lyrics. Standard afternoon!
Songs such as “I’ve Got A Secret” and “Skeleton Song” also deal with issues such as homophobia and anorexia without being to down your throat about it.
Now, Example as an artist is pure annoyance. I have on many an occasion listened to Gareth blaring his songs out of the computer (or MY ipod speakers). I have a very leniant taste in music, but I cannot stand, and emphasis on cannot stand rap. Example used to rap in his songs. I would rest my case there but I won’t. Rap isn’t music. It’s words. Spoken to a beat. A skill I could do if I switched on one of the pre-recorded beats on a keyboard and talked over it. Now this wonderfully talented artist has gone more Calvin Harris, doing more dance and synth tunes. Gary Numan did this in the eighties-and I can only just about, very mildly, tolerate him. Calvin Harris has one song that I like. Example can’t hack it. There is nothing to his songs other than a need to be in the charts. One might argue that one of my favourite artists Lady Gaga does the same; yet when she performs, or sings, she has a depth and emotion in her songs. Same as Kate Nash. Same as Ellie Lawson or A Fine Frenzy. If someone can find me one moving or talented song of Examples, I’ll eat my gilet. Fact!
Artists like Taio Cruz, Roll Deep or Jason Derulo are also just as plain generic and yes I have them on playlists, but only because they are good dance tunes and they remind me of many a night of drunken debauchery. Example isn’t even good to dance to. And I will dance to anything. Another fact! I suggest he goes back to pre-recording tracks for keyboards and just lets me do the talking.