Ulysses: Novel Summary: Chapter Two - Episode 6

Hades
This begins with Bloom, Simon Dedalus (father of Stephen), Mr Power and Martin Cunningham getting into a carriage which will take them to Paddy Dignam's funeral. When Bloom spots Stephen, and points him out to Simon, Bloom's thoughts return once more to his dead son, Rudy.
After coincidentally seeing Boylan, Bloom tells the other a story about Reuben J. Dodd and how he gave the boatman just a florin for saving his son from drowning. A child's coffin passes them and Bloom thinks of Rudy again. Their talk turns to suicide and Martin Cunningham is sympathetic, but Mr Power is not. Bloom thinks of his father's inquest and how the verdict was overdose, death by misadventure. Mr Power then points out where Childs was murdered - this is a case that crops up several times in this novel, and was believed to have been fratricide.
In the mortuary chapel, Bloom considers how Dignam left five children behind. Coming out of the chapel, Simon Dedalus points out his wife's grave and begins weeping. Ned Lambert and John Henry Menton discuss Bloom and Menton wonders why Molly married 'a coon'.
After the burial, the men walk by Parnell's grave, which they refer to as the chief's and Bloom tells Menton that his hat is a little crushed. Bloom also remembers beating Menton at bowls, and that it was a fluke. He also recalls that Menton was not happy about this defeat, or that it happened in front of women.
Analysis
The father-son theme is continued in this episode, most notably as the men travel in the carriage to the funeral. Here, Bloom spots Stephen (the son of Simon and his implied surrogate son later in the novel) and remembers the death of his biological son and father.
This section both continues to place Bloom at the centre of the novel, but also reinforces how he is perpetually seen as not belonging or fitting in. Menton's insults are clearly bigoted and based on Bloom's religion. When Bloom recalls the time he beat Menton at bowls, it is demonstrated that Menton has fallen back on racism to explain away his sense of humiliation (which is tied up with him being beaten by someone who he regards as racially inferior in front of women). This may be seen when he refers to Bloom as 'a coon' when he is talking to Ned Lambert about Molly.