Line 26: "Old Gnawer had deicided then and there that her firstbore should carryon the dinnersty, no mutter that he mite halve been an utter mance."
Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Old Nora had decided then and there that her firstborn should carry on the dynasty, no matter that he might have been another man's."
"Old Gnawer"
"Old Nora" but with the suggestion that Nora is a monster who has consumed something essential of Lucia's.
"deicided"
Decided as a god would. Nora has absolute authority to make the decisions affecting her family. Also sounds a bit like killing a god.
"firstbore"
Giorgio is a bit of a dullard. Remember, he shows no signs of the Joyce wit or cleverness.
"carryon the dinnersty"
Following up on Nora as an "Old Gnawer," we now get the sense of her as a scavenger eating carrion.
"no mutter"
Perhaps in the sense that Nora was "no mother" to Lucia (and perhaps no mother to Giorgio as well, seeing him instead as a "peer" to copulate with). "Mutter" also suggests murmuring, perhaps in the way rumors and gossip are passed along, telling secrets of the type that would expose Giorgio as no James's son or expose the incest in the family.
"he mite"
With the pronoun, I believe it suggests Lucia sees Giorgio as a tick or a parasite. If he's not really James's son then he's an imposter and he has taken love and affection that would have been aimed at Lucia.
"halve"
Giorgio is only her half-sibling, being "another man's child," and thus only halfway belongs in the family.
"utter mance."
Perhaps "mance" (being a non-word, possibly a misspelling of "manse") is meant to imply "menace" and suggesting that Giorgio was an utter menace. It's also possible the "r" at the end of utter butting up against "mance" suggests "romance" and thus we get back at the question of incest.
Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Old Nora had decided then and there that her firstborn should carry on the dynasty, no matter that he might have been another man's."
"Old Gnawer"
"Old Nora" but with the suggestion that Nora is a monster who has consumed something essential of Lucia's.
"deicided"
Decided as a god would. Nora has absolute authority to make the decisions affecting her family. Also sounds a bit like killing a god.
"firstbore"
Giorgio is a bit of a dullard. Remember, he shows no signs of the Joyce wit or cleverness.
"carryon the dinnersty"
Following up on Nora as an "Old Gnawer," we now get the sense of her as a scavenger eating carrion.
"no mutter"
Perhaps in the sense that Nora was "no mother" to Lucia (and perhaps no mother to Giorgio as well, seeing him instead as a "peer" to copulate with). "Mutter" also suggests murmuring, perhaps in the way rumors and gossip are passed along, telling secrets of the type that would expose Giorgio as no James's son or expose the incest in the family.
"he mite"
With the pronoun, I believe it suggests Lucia sees Giorgio as a tick or a parasite. If he's not really James's son then he's an imposter and he has taken love and affection that would have been aimed at Lucia.
"halve"
Giorgio is only her half-sibling, being "another man's child," and thus only halfway belongs in the family.
"utter mance."
Perhaps "mance" (being a non-word, possibly a misspelling of "manse") is meant to imply "menace" and suggesting that Giorgio was an utter menace. It's also possible the "r" at the end of utter butting up against "mance" suggests "romance" and thus we get back at the question of incest.
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