The Medical Students

Character Analysis

In "Oxen of the Sun," a number of medical students are gathered along with men about town. Dixon appears to be the most responsible among them. Callan comes to him to tell of Mina Purefoy's birth, and several times he rebukes the men for being so disorderly, though only lightly. In general, Dixon joins in the fun and readily accompanies them all to Burke's pub to celebrate. When Bloom meets Dixon, he remembers that Dixon once treated him for a bee sting. Madden is more or less part of the background. Costello is described as more or less a do-nothing, and Carrothers is one of the rowdier men, at one point praising Theodore Purefoy, Mina's husband, for knocking another baby out of her. In "Circe," the men appear in Bloom's imaginary court and offer medical testimony for him.