Joyce’s remark, “To me an Irish safety pin is more important than an English epic,” reveals his inclusive interest in trivial things, which constitutes his aesthetics. Many critics and readers have paid more attention to epic grandeur than trivial things referred to in Ulysses. Most of them tend to feel overwhelmed by immense references to trivial things, especially in “Ithaca.” In addition, they feel themselves satisfied by arguing that Joyce’s meticulous descriptions of these trivial things help construct the verisimilitude of reality. I will show how Joyce deploys these trivial items strategically in order to keep the balance between epic grandeur and aesthetic inclusiveness of trivial things, which is related to the tradition of encyclopedic narratives.

Joyce’s voracious inclusive tendency to catalogue trivial items in “Ithaca,” a chapter of accumulation of knowledge, suggests scientific and taxonomical approach to human experience. Joyce’s encyclopedic desire culminates in the penultimate chapter of Ulysses. In particular, I discuss the significance of the things kept in Bloom’s drawers that operate to constitute his racial, sexual, and political identities. For example, the exercise device, an epitome of Sandow’s physical culture, is employed in the promotion of the imperialistic ideology, along with the Wonderworker, a device for curing piles.

In conclusion, Joyce’s encyclopedic desire is reified in trivial items in the circuit of commodity culture and imperialistic economy. So the discussion of trivial things leads to political implications in a country under the British imperial occupation.