Edward's Reviews > Finnegans Wake

Everybody knows the plot of Finnegans Wake. Rich, old man Finnegan has died, leaving behind no will and no direct heirs. A riotous comedy of errors ensues at his wake (an open-casket affair), where his extended family and business associates (a collection of colourful, conniving characters to say the least), vie for supremacy, each one plotting and scheming to inherit Finnegan’s vast business empire and considerable real estate portfolio, which features amongst numerous holdings the grand and opulent Howth castle and environs, whose grounds so wonderfully brought to life by Joyce’s vivid descriptions, form the setting of the novel. But it’s the characters in Finnegans Wake that really stand out. Who can forget cruel Mr Snood, whose Machiavellian machinations can be seen beneath each interaction, or doddering old Mrs Buttercup, whose innocent bumbling antics serve to hilariously thwart his plans at every step. The uproarious hijinks come to a head with the famous twist in the final act, whereupon Finnegan arises from his casket before stunned guests, proclaiming the words, “Finnegan wakes!”, revealing the whole thing to have been nothing more than an elaborate ruse. Finnegan, having lain conscious in state the entire time, and having witnessed the appalling behaviour of his associates and potential heirs, decides to leave the entire estate to a previously unmentioned boy named Billy, the simpleminded child of a village milk-maid, who having some months ago touched Finnegan’s heart with a simple unassuming gesture of kindness (this act, which is recounted by Finnegan at this point in the narrative – Billy’s offering to a parched and lonely Finnegan of a glass of milk and a kind shoulder - has been variously analysed and interpreted by critics since the novel’s publication, being a particularly poignant moment, rich in symbolism and moral significance), has revealed to Finnegan - an otherwise stingy and curmudgeonly man - the importance of kindness and friendship, a lesson upon which Finnegan now intends to reform his own life, beginning this very moment, by expelling each and every parasitic so-called friend directly from the castle, “beyond a swerve of shore and bend of bay, past Eve and Adam’s, and back along riverrun whence they came!” The novel’s cathartic climax and its heart-warming closing scene in which Billy and his mother Daisy, upon arriving at the castle, realise their life of hard poverty is finally at an end – their tearful embrace, and Daisy’s brief monologue which concludes the novel, spoken in endearing and authentic local dialect (“Ooer Billy, I reckon I’ve tugged me last teat” ) – are some of the most powerful and enduring moments in all of literature.

Finnegans Wake was published in 1939 to a confused and divided critical reception, its uncomplicated and light-hearted comedic tone representing a surprising departure from the author’s earlier, far more serious works. Rumour has it that Joyce had for some time been working on an alternative version of the novel, one almost entirely concerned with puns and wordplay, filled with obscure and esoteric references, and devoid of any persistent characters or coherent plot. But fortunately Joyce was moved by close friends to abandon that enterprise, it all being quite silly and pretentious really, and who would want to read a book like that anyway.