What does Bloom say about digestion and war?
“Peace and war depend on some fellow's digestion” is Bloom's thought in Episode 8, as hungry, he walks through Dublin at lunchtime. It sums up his humane, practical outlook: the great events of history may come down to whether a powerful man has had a good lunch.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 8, Lestrygonians. Bloom, thinking about food, fasting and religion on his way to lunch.
Peace and war depend on some fellow’s digestion.
What it means in plain English
Just before, he thinks of Yom Kippur and fasting; just after, of Christmas turkeys and the slaughter of innocents.
Food is the episode's theme: Joyce gave it the organ of the oesophagus.
Literary context
Compare Stephen's “history is a nightmare”: the two men see history very differently.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 8, “Lestrygonians”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
Is Bloom joking?
Half. It is a wry, true thought.
Related terms
“Pineapple rock, lemon platt, butter scotch”
“Pineapple rock, lemon platt, butter scotch” are the opening words of Episode 8. Bloom passes a sweetshop on O'Connell Street at about 1 pm and his hungry mind lists the sweets in the window. The episode is all about food and appetite.
"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake"
"History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake" is spoken by Stephen Dedalus to Mr Deasy, the headmaster of the school where he teaches, in "Nestor" (Episode 2). Stephen means that the weight of the past, Irish, Catholic and personal, feels like a bad dream he cannot escape.
Davy Byrne's
Davy Byrne's is the pub on Duke Street where Bloom eats a gorgonzola cheese sandwich and drinks a glass of burgundy in Episode 8. He calls it a “moral pub”. It is still open, and is crowded with readers every Bloomsday.