In book I, HCE was known through rumors, legends, myths, court cases, letters. He was thought to lie in an ancient chambered tomb whose outlines were still visible as an ancient mound. He was in the world and in history, and was made present by communication.
In book II, there is a different mode of knowledge. First of all, with the narrative continuity, something like a story with a narrator and not a series of discourses, a figure that is suggested to be HCE, the father of the children who works at a pub in Chapelizod, is described much like a character in a normal story. On the other hand, HCE is an object of mystical knowledge. There is a decoupling. On p.283-284, a practice problem from a textbook is read out, asking its student to produce a geometric figure that involves sides labeled "h," "c," and "e," to produce a shape which is the "family umbrogila": an insignia that represents an imbroglio which falls under a shadow (umbra). The problem seems meant for those who are "not literally cooefficient": it solves with math and geometry what, perhaps, can be discovered through philology and grammar, the skills which Issy seems interested in.
The twins, at first, do not follow what their textbook is telling them ("Can you nei do her, numb? asks Dolph, suspecting the answer know. Oikkont, ken you, ninny? asks Kev, expecting the answer guess," 286.25-28). They start to work it out in another way, and end up producing a diagram much like the one described (this is from tomorrow's text, however).
Before the textbook is studied, the narrator describes the surroundings of the Earwickers' (is this their last name?) house in Chapelizod, and here is a further decoupling of HCE from the father figure: "At Tam Fanagan's weak yat his still's going strang" (276.21-22). Right now, the father is not the same as Finnegan. As the description of the drunken revelry going on into the night continues into p.277, we hear how Anna (Earwicker's wife) "was at the beginning lives yet and will return after great deap sleap rereising" (277.11-12). It is easy to read this in the context of the "big picture" of ALP, but I think more concretely here she is serving food at the wake, is planning on getting some sleep, and will wake up again after a while to return to her job.
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It isn't lost on me how what I am doing with II.2 (and FW as a whole) is mirrored in the very form of this chapter, a running, difficult text with comments in each margin by the three children studying or present. I've always liked this chapter, but never understood it well until this time around, where I feel like I am getting a better grasp. But it's form still eludes me. I'm not sure what I am reading. Above, I suggested that part of the text is the textbook, and part is the reaction of the twins. There is narration and an external perspective in about the first half (the narrator(s) describing Chapelizod and the family as they approach the house, thinking about what the three children are or would be doing, and then observing them), with the second half (I think; will need to verify tomorrow and the next day) focused on Kev and Dolph leading each other through the exercises. Did the children get a hold of the text we are reading and add their comments? This seems too reductive and simplistic. Running out of steam as I write. This is an important topic that I've been thinking about for days and thought I had more to say. More tomorrow.
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