Finnegans Wake

While HCE sleeps, his identity becomes a blur. Even his name is reduced to a set of initials as Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker becomes HCE. Throughout the novel, the narrative returns to these initials. Even in the opening line, the phrase “a commodius virus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs” (3) leads the reader back to HCE as well as a geographic location. One of the plays on the HCE initials is Here Comes Everybody, which also refers to the complexity of HCE’s identity. Rather than a person, a character, or a string of three letters, HCE is presented as a layered series of identities that combine to form a blurred, complicated individual who functions as the novel’s protagonist. The search for the truth behind HCE’s identity propels the novel forward, exploring ancient myths, local rumors, criminal court cases, and the interactions with his family. As he dreams, Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker struggles to understand himself. Rather than an individual, he realizes that he is an amalgamation of many different identities that existed long before he was born and will exist long after he dies. HCE is part of a cycle of identities that repeats forever.