Martello Towers

Nto took a number of pictures of Martello towers in Kingston. These represent fortifications designed to repel invasion of this city in the middle of the 19th century. They quickly became obsolete because of the advance in military technology and were never used. However, they remain as a symbol of a bygone era.

Nto has been contemplating the first chapter of Ulysses which takes place in a Martello tower outside of Dublin. Stephen Dedalus has guilt feelings over the death of his mother that are brought out by Buck Mulligan's sharp words:

"–The aunt thinks you killed your mother, he said. That’s why she won’t let me have anything to do with you.

–Someone killed her, Stephen said gloomily.

–You could have knelt down, damn it, Kinch, when your dying mother asked you, Buck Mulligan said. I’m hyperborean as much as you. But to think of your mother begging you with her last breath to kneel down and pray for her. And you refused. There is something sinister in you ..."

Nto enjoys the words of the great Joyce and the symbolic strength of these six towers.