Although Stephen feels depressed by his illness, he comforts himself by melodramatically imagining the beauty of his own burial ceremony and Wells' great remorse for having caused Stephen's unfortunate death. Then Stephen falls into a fitful sleep; he is lulled by "waves" of light, the sounds of imaginary sea waves, and the words which Brother Michael is reading about the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, the young, romantic Irish hero.
Parnell's death becomes more significant in the following scene, when Stephen returns home to celebrate Christmas. At the Christmas dinner are Stephen's parents (Mary and Simon), John Casey (a friend of Simon's), Stephen's greatuncle Charles, and Stephen's old nurse, Dante Riordan. Stephen is particularly excited because for the first time in his life, he is sitting at the table with the adults.
The joy of the occasion is soon interrupted, however, by an argument about the Catholic Church's role in politics and its attitude toward the followers of the late Irish Nationalist, Charles Stewart Parnell.
Casey, a staunch supporter of Parnell's cause, defends Parnell against the injustices committed against him and his cause by the Irish people and by the Catholic Church. According to Casey, the Church hounded Parnell into his grave. The argument naturally includes mention of Parnell's highly publicized love affair with a married woman, Kitty O'Shea, and Dante Riordan vehemently defends the Church's censure of Parnell's involvement with Kitty. Casey says that because the Church interfered with secular matters, it thereby ended a political career which had seemed to promise Home Rule for Ireland.
The argument escalates with an exchange of insults and concludes with Dante's triumphantly shouting, "We crushed him [Parnell] to death!" She slams the door, leaving Simon and Casey weeping over the loss of their beloved hero.
