Character Analysis
O'Connell is the Superintendent of Prospect Cemetery, where Dignam is buried in "Hades." He is made to correspond to Hades, god of the Underworld. As he walks along with the men, they admire his calm demeanor. When he cracks a joke, a few of them observe that he did it intentionally, to try to keep spirits high. Later, in one of Bloom's dream sequences in "Circe," Dignam hears O'Connell's voice and thinks that it is his master, thus reinforcing the image of O'Connell as lord of the Underworld.