Character Analysis
There was a real-life Alf Bergan who was assistant to the subsheriff in Dublin in 1904. He was a typical Dublin character and practical joker. In Ulysses, Bergan appears briefly in "Lestrygonians," and then takes place in the men's banter in "Cyclops." He gets a particular kick out of watching Denis Breen stumble around town trying to take legal action over his U.P. postcard, and seems to suggest that he might be somehow involved with the prank. He appears in Bloom's dreams in "Circe," heckling Denis Breen.