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With its innovations in narrative， Ulysses gives vent to the suppressed individual voices in modern society.Thus the prevalence of first⁃person narrator marks the birth of individual subject in Ulysses .Such narrative presents a picture of human interiority and individual consciousness becomes the centering ground in the presentation of reality.The firstperson narrative witnesses the existence of the individual subject behind its voice.
The first⁃person narration is concerned with personal，individual and private life.Immersed in the stream of consciousness，the “I”s of Bloom，Stephen and Molly examine，involve in and talk about themselves.All through the novel，the three are caught in the web of their personal feelings and emotions.Bloom's mind lingers on things connected with his job and family.Death of his father and son frequently and unexpectedly inserts into his mind.This has left a permanent scar hard to heal and impossible to remove.He also worries about his relationship with his wife and fellow citizens.The typical feature of Bloom's consciousness is the concentration on the everyday mundane，including the digestion of food，drink and even urination.Stephen，another character，shares the same concern about family life，the death of his mother haunting him day and night，sober and drunk.What makes Stephen different from Bloom is his philosophical reflection on the meaning of life，existence and writing.In her interior monologue，Molly，Bloom's wife，dives into her past，present and future.Her mind is crammed with her memory of sexual relationships，especially that with Bloom，her husband.Similar in scope but essentially different in kind，the narratives of the three characters reveal their respective spiritual world.The abundance of personal emotions and memories presents a picture of the inner state of individuals.
The employment of first⁃person narrative in Ulysses captures spontaneity of personal experience.Fully involved in personal musings，ignoring the demands of public decency and lacking the restrictions of person⁃toperson dialogue，individual consciousness is free from intentional arrangement both in content and form.Joyce probes into the deep recesses of human psyche，unearthing hidden desires.Bloom's fantasy is perfectly put on in “Circe”，in which he submits to public humiliation or rises to the mayor of Dublin.He is made a woman，a naughty child，a prostitute，an animal，and then a meal.These reveal his interiority not yet completely curtained by social rules.Individual consciousness reveals motives，embarrassment，and hidden drives.First⁃person narrative gives vent to submerged turmoil.
The first⁃person individual consciousness in the psychological time of Ulysses discloses immediate spiritual reality ， free from systemization and arrangement .Psychological time in Ulysses tells the life⁃story of Bloom，Stephen and Molly.It also reveals the encyclopedic scene of Dublin.With the psychological time intended as the integral mode for apprehension of original reality，the durational flux of Bergson refers to the fluid consciousness in human kind.Stream of consciousness in Ulysses is an uninterrupted series of mental actions.It may passively accept the sense⁃data，but the perceiving mind also imposes its own order upon the representation of the world. Ulysses dramatizes consciousness as a creator，and not simply a perceiver，of order.Throughout the first six chapters of Ulysses ，and intermittently thereafter，the character's consciousness is itself the principle of order.These chapters present not “the world”but the world as perceived and given order by Bloom，Stephen or Molly.
The movement of consciousness is revealed in the functioning of psychological time in techniques such as montage and free association in Ulysses.Montage is the superimposition of images or ideas from one time on those of another.Fluidity of consciousness subverts the uni⁃directional tendency of clock time.Incoherence and discontinuity in the illogical juxtaposition of past，present and future dissolves the causality of action and linear development that actually stems from the rationalization.
The privilege of spiritual reality symbolizes the self⁃assertion of individual subject.With its idiosyncratic features，individual perspective has always constituted a threat to objectivity and is often sneered at.The presentation of individual consciousness and the access it enables to spiritual reality helps to establish the status of individual subject.The first⁃person individual consciousness is proved to be the very reality that has been covered up.
The individual consciousness in first⁃person narratives in Ulysses enforces the inner autonomy of man.This is based on the concentration of clock time and expansion of psychological time. Ulysses only covers about 19 hours in the life of three commoners on July16th in the year 1904.This serves the presentation of individual consciousness in psychological time.Elasticity and expansion of psychological time comes from its dynamic and creative nature that makes it fold and spread freely like a fan.Expansion of the psychological time lies in the specious nature of the present，that is，the simultaneous coexistence of retrospective and prospective tendencies.The essence of time is that it goes by，so the moment in which one is speaking is receding into the past and impending over the future at almost the same time.As the psychological time overcomes the stasis of clock time，the intermingle of past，present and future is not numerical multiplicity or quantitative assemblage，but qualitative changes and dynamic renewals .No longer separated by mechanical division，different moments of different periods in clock time flood into the same point in the psychological time of the mind .High density and contiguity in the concentration makes them confronts each other in immediate and tense dialogue.The dynamic interiority reveals the inner autonomy of individual subject.
Such individual autonomy is relative to and dependent on the coexistence of multiple streams of consciousness in first⁃person narrative.Besides the relativity of past，present and future，psychological time also lies in the coexistence of different temporal systems of reference at certain point of clock⁃time.At 8 o.clock on the Bloomsday，the streams of consciousness in Bloom and Stephen rely on their different experiences of psychological time determined by their respective employment，education，family life，etc.The irreducible idiosyncratic features guarantee each other's autonomy.
With its inner dynamics and temporal involvement，the individual subject in Ulysses is an independent entity that is entangled with others and the outside world.
First，the individual subject is an“I”，however difficult or even impossible it may be for others or the subject itself to understand this “I”.This is the modern fascination with the self and Joyce's concern with firstperson individual consciousness.The self thus burdens itself with the obligation of creativity，self⁃generation and autonomous action.It is in this context that the distinction between the exterior and the interior of individual consciousness in Ulysses becomes significant.As the metaphorical and spiritual home of individual subject，individual consciousness is qualitatively distinct from the outside.The inside represents the hidden truth of the self.At the same time，it represents something forbidden，unpleasant，ugly and fascinating.With Joyce's exploration of deep recesses of consciousness，the interior becomes a vast and hitherto unknown“new world”.The self⁃dissection，self⁃revelation and self⁃knowledge in stream of consciousness set up the image of individuals as autonomous beings.Individual consciousness attempts to preserve within itself an intact world.
Second，the individual subject in Ulysses is entangled in a web of relationships.In psychological time，the individual consciousness shuttles back and forth in past，present and future.This makes the individual connected with family，social and historical factors.Bloom，Stephen and Molly never get themselves free from their personal experience and social relationships.Even in the inner world，they encounter others.It is such encounter with the immediate social environment that awakens the interior life，and gives rise to a complex，dynamic and sometimes obscure inner structure.The crucial question in the life of Bloom，Stephen and Molly is how to maintain a balanced state between themselves and others，reality and ideal.Maintaining autonomy in relation to others makes the self⁃assertion more fully developed.
Third，the individual subject in Ulysses has its own representation of the outside world.With its concern with time，individual consciousness is not only the spiritual home but also the source of agency.Bloom，Stephen and Molly respectively present their own picture of society and establishes themselves as the determiner.When imposing its order on the world，individual subject realizes itself as an active and self⁃willed force.The world here includes not only the physical environment but also spiritual circumstance，including cultural and historical factors.
The prevalence of first⁃person narrative in stream of consciousness is based on the decline of the omniscient third⁃person narrative that suppresses individual voices.These two narrative patterns are symptomatic of two complementary but also irreconcilable forces in novel making.On the one hand，narration in the novel displays a preoccupation with the nature of reality that is coincident with the goals of philosophical enlightenment in securing the rationality of the world.Traditional novelists often claim their mission for the objective and real representation of the world.The omniscient third⁃person narrative and the pursuit of world representation is part of the various closural patterns through which the formal totality of the novel is achieved.The tendency for totality and conclusion may range from satisfaction and the achievement of reciprocal happiness in marriage to the death of the protagonists.In either case closure marks the annihilation of desire and the termination of the narrative aspect itself.Such abstracting，centralizing and transcendental tendency in the novel is relevant to and representative of the regulation of social forces.The closural patterns in the novel reveal the narrative desire for control and domination of subordinate voices in the novel，while the social forces demands homogeneity and univocal voice，which suppresses individual desires.
Yet on the other hand，the novel responds to the need for the mediation of experience and for the articulation of desires as“the bases of a vision of personal identity that cannot always be centered with respect to a social whole”（Cascardi，72）.This often takes the form of narrative innovations，digressions and apparent distractions from the principal plot.Thus the digressive tendency tends to accept heterogeneous voices and takes care of the individual diversity that can't be absorbed into the abstract social whole.It responds to the need for the mediation of individual experience and for the articulation of inner desires.The composition of the novel is “the paradoxical fusion of heterogeneous and discrete components into an organic whole which is then abolished over and over again”（Cascardi，96）.This determines the potential of novel form and reflects the pursuit of human freedom valued in the modern age.
Beginning with Cervantes，and in a remarkable way in Sterne，the tensions between continuity and digression，between distractive incidents and the will to conclude，constitute the twin poles of narration，and the fundamental energies of the novel may be seen to derive from them.
The characteristic waywardness of the novel is fueled by the unpredictability of desire and by the introduction of agencies of passion，often configured as a disruption or lack；yet novelistic narrative is at the same time sustained by the project to eliminate distraction and to satisfy desire as is manifested in the will to conclude.（Cascardi，72）
The disruptive force in digression often topples down the closural tendency and the socializing voice and introduces new dimensions of life into the novel.
As the two tendencies within the novel form are respectively symptomatic of the social force and the individual desire，their tensions often manifest the conflict between society and individual.This is represented by the contradiction between“the way of the world”and “the law of the heart”.On one hand，the novel's abstracting and centralizing tendency in the pursuit of closural pattern is relevant to the systemizing efforts in political，economical and cultural fields，which demand hegemony，homogeneity and univocal voice.This is represented as“the way of the world”in the novel.On the other hand，the differentiation of individuals has not been wiped away by the social forces and is expressed in personal wills and desires，which often interrupts the closural pattern in the novel and threats the stability of social forces.This is called “the law of the heart”.In modern society，the boundary between“the way of the world”and “the law of the heart”has been blurred，since social forces have become more and more pervasive and individuals may find it hard to keep themselves free from contamination.
With its transformation in narrative form， Ulysses reflects the interaction between“the way of the world”and “the law of the heart”，the conflict between individual and society.With its depiction of the mobile and fluid stream of consciousness，the prevalence of the first⁃person narrative in Ulysses ushers in the age of individual subject.
Based on the above analysis of narrative innovations in Ulysses ，this book is to explore man's modern identity as individual subject through the analysis of Bloom，Stephen and Molly.The transformation in their social identity and psychological patterns illustrates their troubled relationships with society and world.The conflict between individual and society，the blurred distinction between consciousness and world，reveal both changes and challenges to the identity of modern individuals.
The antihero，Bloom，features the reversal in social identity and psychological pattern，which foregrounds the contrast between obscurity and heroism，determines the reduced stature of modern individual .The reversal pattern is revealed in his fall from the authoritative father to the heirless and cuckolded commoner，his transition from the bombarded Jew to the comical Christ⁃like figure.As the heterogeneous nobody，Bloom not only adapts himself to the tension between insider and outsider in family and social lives but also transcends the logic of exclusion in the hegemonic discourse，revealing the inclusive tendency and heterogeneous principle in his relationship with others and society.The tension between the polarities of outsider and insider leads to the loss of stable unified self in Bloom.
Caught in the chasm between individual and society，ideal and reality，intellect and experience，the problematic individual，Stephen，is characterized by the sense of insubstantive self，which results from disillusionment and anxiety.Stephen's image as a rebellious son is established through the “conscious”forgetting and overcoming of fatherhood，while the promising artist in Stephen is revealed in his Hamlet theory presented in the National Library.As the frustrated intellectual，Stephen is split between intellect and experience，ideal and reality.With his either/or personality，Stephen only has two sides.Tortured by the threatening loss of substantive self，Stephen resorts to external props such as attire for help.
The indeterminacy of Molly is determined by the fractured coexistence of multiple discourses and selves in the image of Molly.Due to the juxtaposition of different discourses in her female identity，Molly is caught in her troubled relationships with children，Bloom and Boylan，which make her the modern Penelope.The indeterminacy is further revealed in her role as the speaking subject.No longer confined within the idealized mute female figure，Molly forms a dialogic relationship with others and social discourses.Instead of subverting the patriarchal image of women，the image of Molly functions as the strategy of maintaining open⁃endedness.With her indeterminate female role，Molly possesses various and even contradictory selves.