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Finnegans Wake (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)

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Characters Discussed

Finnegan, the title character, whose name is derived from Finn MacCool, for two hundred years the legendary captain of Ireland’s warrior heroes; the name change is coined in a Joycean pun “Mister Finn, you’re going to be Mister Finnagain.” Finnegan, a hod carrier, has fallen from a ladder and is apparently dead. The fall is symbolic of the various falls (with implied corresponding resurrections) of humankind. At the wake, Finnegan’s friends become noisy and unrestrained, and in the course of the festivities, at the mention of the Irish word for...

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