Hershey explores the psychology of the character of Stephen Dedalus. His interactions with Buck Mulligan, a medical student, provide clues to Dedalus's conflicts; Hershey also explores his marked ambivalence toward women and his intense guilt following the death of his mother, to whom he had an ambivalent attachment. Buck Mulligan's persistent, chiding mockery and aloofness provide sharp contrast to Stephen's suffering and masochistic posture. Mulligan and Dedalus are contrasted further when Mulligan rescues a drowning man, whereas Dedalus was unable to save his own mother. Concurrently, he struggles over his ambivalent attitude toward the absent father whom he persistently seeks. The recurrent theme of Stephen's conflict over sexuality is addressed, as are the issues of condensation and dream reference. The relation between the essentially fatherless Stephen and Leopold Bloom, who has no son, is examined with respect to multiple levels of male conflict.