What does Bloom say to the Citizen at the end of Cyclops?
“And the Saviour was a jew and his father was a jew. Your God.” Bloom shouts it at the Citizen as he leaves Barney Kiernan's in Episode 12, after a stream of antisemitic abuse. It is the one time Bloom fights back openly, and it nearly gets him hurt.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 12, Cyclops. Bloom, from the jaunting car outside the pub, as Martin Cunningham tries to get him away.
And the Saviour was a jew and his father was a jew. Your God.
What it means in plain English
He lists famous Jews, Mendelssohn, Karl Marx, Spinoza, then Christ himself. Martin Cunningham says “He had no father” and urges the driver on.
The Citizen, furious, throws a biscuit tin after the car.
Literary context
Bloom was baptised and is not religious, but he accepts his Jewish identity here.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 12, “Cyclops”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
Does the biscuit tin hit him?
No. The car gets away, and the parody turns Bloom into the prophet Elijah rising to heaven.
Related terms
The Citizen
The aggressive nationalist Bloom argues with in 'Cyclops' (Episode 12) — Joyce's one-eyed Cyclops.
“Love, I mean the opposite of hatred”
“Love, says Bloom. I mean the opposite of hatred.” Bloom says this in Barney Kiernan's pub in Episode 12, after the Citizen's attacks on Jews and the English. Asked what real life is, he answers simply that it is love, then leaves, which the drinkers mock.
Barney Kiernan's
Barney Kiernan's is the pub on Little Britain Street where Episode 12, “Cyclops”, takes place. Bloom goes there to meet Martin Cunningham about Dignam's insurance and ends up in a row with the Citizen, who throws a biscuit tin at him.