Molly’s preoccupation with objects is perhaps one of the uglier
qualities Joyce has written into her person.
Her lust for expensive cocktails, clothes, hats, and undergarments,
however, is more accurately a desire to feel legitimized.
Molly clearly believes that she has been cheated from a life she
was destined to live, and seems to feel Bloom has extinguished her
opportunities. This belief is
manifested in her desire for outward symbols of success and fortune,
symbols which would compensate for the inner ineptitude she feels as a
wife and mother. The items become figureheads in Molly’s consciousness,
signposts of greater emotional desires.
Molly’s associations can be traced through the images of the
oysters, which she seems to link directly to the idea of fidelity.
Oysters are first mentioned in reference to Mary, “that slut we
had in Ontario terrace” (line 59).
Molly does not have proof that Bloom and Mary are having sexual
liaisons, and so she invents the story of the missing oysters. This
episode is meaningful on several levels, all pertaining to Molly’s
relationship to material items. First, Molly transforms her suspicions
into tangible form. Her
intuitive feelings of loss, related to the transposition of Bloom’s
affections for her to another locus (she supposes Mary), are manifested in
the loss of an object. This
theft, the theft of Bloom’s companionship, is translated into a literal
robbery, a accusation completely fabricated from Molly’s own jealousy.
Secondly, the sensual quality of the oysters s symbolic. Molly could have easily accused Mary of stealing any number of household items. Oysters are a symbol of lust and secrecy. Aside from their reputation as an aphrodisiac, they are physically very much like the common images of the female form. Molly has described her own body as a sort of container which men then fill up during intercourse. Oysters must also be opened or they serve no purpose. This seems to be a reflection of the way Molly believes men view women.
Material
Girl
