I would like to consider a lexicon entry on the uses of the word “organ” in Ulysses. Perhaps the most memorable use of the term within the first six episode is in Bloom’s introductory sentence: the first thing we know of him is that he “ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls”(4.1-2). What draws me to this term, however, is not just the memorable appetite implied by this usage – which is in the sense the OED describes as “a part of an animal or plant body that serves a particular physiological function” – but the flexibility of the term.
Bloom may be an eater of organs, but he also comes to church and asks himself, “Who has the organ here I wonder?”(5.395) The same word can be a specialized body part or a holy instrument, but the mass itself also possesses “wonderful organisation certainly, goes like clockwork”(5.424) just a few lines later. Episode six, however, returns us to the organ’s more mundane meanings when the funeral carriage passes “a streetorgan” playing “a rollicking rattling song of the halls”(6.6.372-3).
Although these are, as far as I can tell, the only uses of the word so far in Ulysses, a quick search of the (non-Gabler) HTML text shows that it occurs a total of 45 times. Certainly, the word has plenty more meanings to consider: a newspaper can be the organ of a political cause, someone’s voice could – in Joyce’s time, at least – be referred to as their organ, and so on – the OED lists ten definitions, many with sub-definitions of their own. I suspect from what I know of Joyce that it would be an oversight not to consider, both in considering the word’s recurrence thus far and in awaiting its future appearances, OED definition #10: a euphemism for the penis.
Speaking of which, I first considered selecting the word cock(le) from the list of suggestions provided – it seemed an easy choice given Joyce’s penchant for innuendo, as well as my “sexualities” obsession – but quickly found that I was simply more interested in the other options I thought of. The other word I considered – am still considering, really, depending on how the rest of the book goes – is “grave”. Given that its two most prominent definitions (as a noun, for a place of burial, and as an adjective, meaning serious or severe) both appear prominently in Ulysses, and given the obsession with death so far, it seemed a natural choice. The only reason I chose “organ” was that the variety of its definitions compelled me just a little more – I’ll just have to see where I can go with it.
