Ulysses

Still another positive side of Bloom is revealed in the conversation between Nosey Flynn (who appeared first in Joyce's short story "Counterparts" in Dubliners, and who received his nickname from his habit of always "snuffling it up") and Davy Byrne, after Bloom has left for the bathroom. Flynn says that Bloom is a Freemason (and therefore immediately set apart from Dublin Catholics), "in the craft." Yet Bloom is a good man, and the two men praise his temperance ("God Almighty couldn't make him drunk") and his charitable nature ("He has been known to put his hand down too to help a fellow"). The latter praise is especially important, for it foreshadows Bloom's helping the fallen Stephen in "Circe," after the young man has been struck by Private Carr and knocked to the ground. In general, then, Byrne and Flynn think a good deal of Bloom ("Decent quiet man he is"), even though Bloom is reluctant to, as they put it, "put anything in black and white" — that is, make a contract or an agreement. However, even in this temporary place of refuge, Bloom is misunderstood, and after Bloom has left, Bantam Lyons once again spreads the lie that Bloom has given him a tip on the Gold Cup race.