Cloud cover

Among the many parallels between Stephen’s first three chapters and Bloom’s first three is the similar way in which the two men's moods respond physically to the presence or absence of sunlight. The warm light that greets Stephen on the first page of Telemachus, and Bloom when he leaves his home in pursuit of meat, disappears several pages later when a cloud obscures the sun––an adumbration of the dramatic thunderstorm that will visit Dublin later in the day. The dark chill in the atmosphere produces a similar depressive effect in both men, and when the sun returns several minutes later their moods brighten.

John Hunt 2016


Early morning sun in Cyprus. Source: ronnieborr.com.


Source: freebigpictures.com.


Dublin in morning sunlight, in detail of a 2015 photograph by Kaumal Baig. Source: kbaig93.tumblr.com.