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Ellmann depicts Joyce as prone to exaggeration and outright lies, where Joyce seems to have taken very seriously the ideal of being scrupulously truthful. So this page will attempt to inventory and analyse this inconsistency. But the motif of lying implies too the motif of forgery, which implies the motifs of mimicry, and imagination, and false-memory.
First, this ambiguous lie from Portrait I: [etext]
Stephen said quickly for fear his trembling would prevent him: --Yes, sir, but Father Dolan said he will come in tomorrow to pandy me again for it.
Dolan has said he'll come tomorrow, but not specifically that he'll pandy Stephen (though if he's not working again it might well be expected).
From the 1921 Ulysses notes we also get this reminder that Joyce's youthful hero Odysseus was a famous liar: [1894?]
Ithaca 11:43 "Ul. lies to him"
from the context, this refers to Odysseus's lying to Laertes at Homer's 24.269, reporting of a supposed third party: "He declared him to be by lineage from out of Ithaca, and said that his own father was Laertes" [more]
The Critical Writings collection includes an essay "Trust Not Appearances" that reflects fairly conventionally on the theme.
Next, two autobiographical comments from the Finnegans Wake notes:
Apr 1923: 3.64 "SD wrote themes for Leo Wilkins, Willy Fallon"
Ellmann mentions William Fallon as a Belvedere boy; 'Encounter' features a likely 'Leo Dillon' also from the Belvedere years. Joyce was exploring the forgery motif around Apr23 for Shem in FW
Dec 1922: 10.86 "discussing Holy war SD said he had read Motley's Rise of Dutch Republic (had read title)"
this sounds more than coincidentally close to the anecdote Curran tells [e58] of Joyce's first class with Father Darlington, who's heard of Joyce's reputation and asks if he's read Stephen Phillips' play 'Paolo and Francesca' which JAJ answers 'Yes' "in a bored voice".
Ulysses notes about the lying motif:
1919 U-Cyclops 5:67 "Lie: S.D. receives £5"
1919 U-Cyclops 8:57 "Exaggeration (Rhet. SD's lies, Molly's romancing)"
1919 U-Nausikaa 8:12 "that's a lie, J.J. + you know it"
1920 U-Oxen 7:136 "SD lies"
1920 U-CirceX 7:114 "hypnotism + lies"
1920 U-EumeusI 6:07 "SD + LB both lie"
1921 U-Ithaca 11:43 "Ul. lies to him"
Ulysses Sirens [etext]
"He had received the rhino for the labour of his muse."
Ulysses Oxen: [etext]
"And he showed them glistering coins of the tribute and goldsmith notes the worth of two pound nineteen shilling that he had, he said, for a song which he writ."
it's his pay from Deasy, of course
Ulysses Eumeus: [etext]
--At what o'clock did you dine? he questioned of the slim form and tired though unwrinkled face.
--Some time yesterday, Stephen said.
--Yesterday! exclaimed Bloom till he remembered it was already tomorrow, Friday. Ah, you mean it's after twelve!
--The day before yesterday, Stephen said, improving on himself.
some are arguing that 'dine' excludes SD's breakfast of eggs, bread, honey, milk and tea
Finnegans Wake notes:
NovA 10.04 "story all improbable lies"
Dec A-Eumeus 156 "a perfect lie"
DecD 10.69 "deceitful jade"
DecG 10.86 "discussing Holy war SD said he had read Motley's Rise of Dutch Republic (had read title)"
Mar A-Penelope 48 "can't believe a word out of his mouth"
Apr 3.64 "SD wrote themes for Leo Wilkins, Willy Fallon"
Apr 3.73 "W: I never found her out in a lie"
Jun A-Nausikaa 75 "add 1 inch per day to nose"
Jul A-Exiles2 71 "Isolde ment visiblement" lies visibly
AugF 2.08 "wilful lie of priest sacrilege (sacri lips)"
AugG 2.20 "forge document (Macpherson Ossian)"
The Revered letter vignette is all about McGrath's lies: [etext]
"...Aha, McGrath, the lies are out on him like freckles... I will not have a reptile the like of McGrath Bros to be spreading his lies all round where we live... I don't care that for him and lies about an experience of mine with a clerical friend... So much for the lies that I was treated not very grand by thicks..."
Ellmann
Ellmann is frequently dismissive of Joyce's comments about Finnegans Wake (especially), as if Joyce habitually exaggerated the effort he'd put into that work. My inclination is to look very hard for evidence that Joyce was in fact being quite truthful here.
[e678] JAJ claimed in 1934 that he received two guineas for singing 'The Salley Gardens' at his first public concert (improbably high!)
Costello
[pc313] suggests improbably that the dates for 'Portrait' (1904-1914) are a lie to fit the ten-year prediction cited in Ulysses (should be 1915)
1920 U-CirceD 2:143 "mimic animals"
Nov1922 10.19 "pretend to be dead"
Nov1923 11.150 "HCE mimics Mum"
1920 U-Circe 1:41 "SD remembers falsely place not seen"
1921 U-Ithaca 1:67 "forget street where smthg unpleasant occurred"
1921 U-Ithaca 15:100 "SD forgets hank. LB- key"
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