Tom Kernan Character Analysis in Ulysses

Kernan is a Protestant tea merchant who mourns at Paddy Dignam’s funeral in “Hades” (but criticizes the rushed Catholic services), congratulates himself on a business deal in “Wandering Rocks,” and drinks at the Ormond Hotel in “Sirens.” An intervention to stop his drinking was also the subject of the story “Grace” in Joyce’s book of short stories, Dubliners.

Tom Kernan Character Timeline in Ulysses

The timeline below shows where the character Tom Kernan appears in Ulysses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...thinks of Milly’s childhood illnesses and his father’s beloved dog Athos. The men discuss Tom Kernan’s impressive singing last night and Dan Dawson’s speech, which has been printed in the newspaper.... (full context)

Religion, Atheism, and Philosophy Theme Icon

...carry Dignam’s coffin inside. Cunningham tells Power that Bloom’s father poisoned himself, while Bloom asks Kernan about Dignam’s life insurance and expresses his sympathies for Dignam’s wife and children. Simon Dedalus... (full context)

...Dedalus breaks down when he thinks of his late wife, who is buried nearby. Tom Kernan criticizes Father Coffey for rushing through the ceremony and comments that he prefers the Church... (full context)

This episode’s twelfth section starts with Tom Kernan walking through Dublin and congratulating himself for closing a business deal with a Mr. Crimmins.... (full context)

...surprise to indifference. These people include nearly everyone named in this episode, such as Tom Kernan, Reuben J. Dodd, the barmaids Miss Kennedy and Miss Douce, Simon Dedalus, Reverend Hugh C.... (full context)

At Tom Kernan and Simon Dedalus’s request, Ben Dollard sings “The Croppy Boy,” an old Irish ballad about... (full context)

...day’s other failures and “imperfections”—he didn’t sell Keyes’s ad, he didn’t buy tea from Tom Kernan, he didn’t figure out if the statues of Greek goddesses have genitals, and he didn’t... (full context)