As Leopold Bloom traces the ordinary movements of a single day, he sometimes tries to add excitement and mystery to his life so that he can imagine himself as an extraordinary man with exceptional ability problems. Bloom does this to dispel the frightening idea that he is just an ordinary man with relatively ordinary problems. If he can imagine himself to be an extraordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, his tragedies gain a sense of importance, instead of being senseless miseries that he must endure alone, in silence. Bloom's "relationship" with Martha is just one of the ways he attempts to add excitement to his life, so that he doesn't feel so ordinary. The fact that she has a forbidden secret brings excitement and mystery to Bloom's life, as does the very act of keeping her relationship hidden from everyone else. Bloom makes futile efforts to prevent his communication with Martha from being discovered, indulging his fantasy that someone might be interested in his life. Furthermore, Bloom seems, at times, to almost revel in his sadness over Molly's affair, presumably because this allows him to imagine himself as a tragic hero who valiantly endures his harsh life. Bloom is undoubtedly an ordinary man, and while his "affair" with Martha and his marital difficulties are hardly extraordinary circumstances that anyone else has experienced, Bloom finds a kind of comfort by creating a fantasy with himself as the central tragic figure. He revels in the secrecy surrounding his relationship and the sadness over his marriage problems because they allow him to feel less like a normal man who is like any other man going through a normal day that is like any other day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This day in the life of Leopold Bloom is, while unusually difficult due to the funeral and his wife's impending infidelity, not entirely out of the ordinary. Although the circumstances of the day in which Ulysses takes place are slightly extraordinary, it is clear that Bloom is an ordinary man dealing with just one day of his life. Bloom is obviously an intelligent man, as the reader can deduce from his intellectual thoughts on everything from physics to parallax, and he is certainly aware of how ordinary he is. His desire to be extraordinary, to be an exciting and mysterious man, is what drives him to begin his "relationship" with Martha. The story, however, has so far consisted of only a few letters, only indirectly suggestive. This is certainly not a wild and passionate love story: the correspondence is not even incriminating. Bloom, however, has elevated the story in his mind to levels far out of proportion to the reality of their communication. He takes unnecessary precautions to avoid being "caught": corresponding under a pseudonym; using a post office box; destroying the envelope his letter arrives in and throwing it into the river. The Henry Flower alias and phony address serve to literally transform Bloom into another person - a person, presumably, who is capable of doing exciting things, things that Leopold Bloom can only dream of doing. Destroying the letter is almost a spy tactic, as if Bloom fears someone is following him, gathering evidence of any subversive acts he may be involved in. Furthermore, Bloom only removes Martha's letter from his pocket when no one is around, perhaps imagining that someone might be watching him. The reality, of course, is that no one would pay attention to a man walking down the street reading a letter. No one would even wonder what was therewritten on the page. Yet, for Bloom, letter writing is thrilling in its clandestineness, and the possibilities that correspondence seems to entail are incredibly exciting, because a real relationship is a forbidden act. The relationship with Martha has great importance for Bloom, as he can imagine himself as a man in control of his own life, not an emasculated "Poldy", and he can feel some excitement in his life at the idea of ​​being caught. "Go further next time. Bad boy: punish" (64). Bloom revels in the excitement of doing something wrong, of being a "bad boy" for perhaps the first time ever, even if his actions are "wrong" only in his mind. In chapter 11, Bloom has a fantasy of being followed, his correspondence traced, and then must cover up the evidence of his communication with Martha. Through this fantasy, he brings excitement and importance to what is, in reality, only a relatively tame pseudo-relationship. While sitting in the tavern and responding to Martha's letter, Bloom brings out the experience of doing something forbidden, taking the time to disguise his handwriting and dry the impression on the pad. "No, change it ee... H sign. They like the sad tail on the end... Dab the other one so he can't read. There. Right. A tidbit of the idea prize. Something the detective he read on the blotting pad" (229-30 ). Again, of course, the reality is that no one would notice an impression on a blotter, take the time to decipher it, or even care what's written if they could read it. However, by imagining not only that someone will try to discover his secrets but that he will care about them, Bloom is able to give himself a fleeting sense of being a mysterious and important man. All the little fantasies and dramas Bloom engages in are ways for him to feel important, special, more human. Another way Bloom manages to make her life (at least in her mind) more exciting and out of the ordinary than it actually is is by enjoying the "tragedy" that her marriage has become. Although his marital difficulties are not fantasies, as his affair with Martha is, they have a similar effect on Bloom. How he feels about his relationship with Martha and how he feels about Molly's relationship with Boylan both serve to heighten Bloom's sense of being important, of being alive. The relationship with Martha makes Bloom feel more like a man, and his sadness over the relationship with Molly makes Bloom feel more like a human being. His sadness for Molly is real; a real emotion that Bloom clings to so as not to lose his humanity. He may feel like he chose not to act, as if he could still make choices and is almost noble for choosing not to face Boylan. Certainly Bloom is a non-confrontational person, but perhaps he chooses to ignore the affair and let it move on because the sadness makes him feel truly, genuinely human. Molly's relationship with Boylan adds a kind of perverse excitement to Bloom's life, making him the center of what is effectively an everyman's tragedy. Bloom is forced to feel a deep sadness, and he almost begins to enjoy that sensation, because it makes him feel extraordinary in some way. Deep sadness can make you feel special, important, as if no one can understand the suffering, and Bloom takes what seems, at times, to be a kind of pleasure in his misery. The emotions he feels every time he thinks of Molly make him feel more alive, and therefore important. Although he makes an effort to banish every thought of Boylan that crosses his mind, Bloom, subconsciously or otherwise, encourages the relationship to some extent. Not only does he make no effort to stop Molly, he also buys her romance novels and lingerie..