Patrick Dignam

Character Analysis

Patrick Dignam dies a few days before the setting of Ulysses. In "Hades," all of the men go to attend his funeral. Dignam has left behind his wife and a number of children, and Martin Cunningham feels the need to take up a collection for Mrs. Dignam. In "Cyclops," the men get confused over whether or not he is actually dead, and then lament his death at length. A long parodic passage depicts Dignam rising from the dead and telling his wife where he left a boot he lost before he died. In Bloom's imagined court sequence in "Circe," Dignam appears as a dog. He defends Bloom for wearing black and asks after his wife, before walking away.