Life Lessons from Untimely Death in James Joyce's Ulysses

In Ulysses, James Joyce draws deeply on his own experiences and those of people he had known. An excellent example is Dr. John J. O'Hare, whose tragically young death resulted from an illness contracted while on duty as a public health officer. Joyce transfers various of O'Hare's traits into two fictional Ulysses medical men, the late Dr. O'Hare and the living Dr. Dixon. By reshaping elements of the real O'Hare into these two fictional doctors, Joyce thematizes major issues inherent in human experience.