link

Simon Dedalus' protective response to a perceived threat or accosting of his son triggers parallel (if truncated and wistful) feelings in Bloom, which he'll subsequently revisit throughout the day. This linkage, established by Simon Dedalus' words here, will allow for Bloom to gradually transfer his emotion from Rudy to Stephen Dedalus: note that Bloom first judges Simon as a "noisy selfwilled man," which will help Bloom, in a psychological sense, to be dismissive of Simon's effective role in providing adequate paternalism and so open the door for Bloom to enter in and play that role.