mdmd(4) - last call

[ray gonne]

Brian D. McCary wrote:
> 
> Don't forget, mdmd(5) starts tomorrow, chapters 14-16.  So it's time
> now to put finger to keyboard and dash off all those half thoughts you
> have been reluctant to share on events in 11-13.
> 
> Here's one to start with: chapter 13 is about the first of many
> partings between Mason & Dixon.  Outside of some flashbacks, this is
> our first veiw of Mason by himself, or at least on in the presence of
> Dixon.  Although the attack on the ship permitted them to break through
> some barrier, they may not come to appreciate how important they are to
> each other until they have to work seperately.  Although Dixon's joking
> seems to disturb Mason at times, it seems to be a comfortable
> disturbance.  While Mason & Maskelyne (M&M - suppose our boy, with his
> bad teeth and love of ampersands, is a plain or peanut man?) are
> clearly capable of working together & even recreating together -
> witness the trip to the orange grove, and even the communal drinking at
> the Moon - it is clear that Mason is far less comfortable with
> Maskelyne than with Dixon.  I cannot attribute this fully to
> competitive jealosy or surviving shared peril; Maskelyne is no crazier
> than Dixon, and has little less in common with Mason than Dixon (in fact,
> he seems to share a certain quality of self-torture with Mason) but
> Mason just can't form the same bond.  In fact, throughout this whole book,
> Mason's clear ease with Dixon is a pleasant contrast to his strained
> relations with everyone else: father, sons, sister, Bradley, Peach, usw.
> The Mason-Maskelyne chapters seem to help define the Mason-Dixon relationship
> by showing another possiblility.
> 
> Brian McCary

well-put. i think the key lies in the fact that dixon makes such a good
spoil for mason, such that maskelyne, a bit similar to dixon, still
doesn't quite click with mason, further establishing the link between m
& d. chalk it up to pynchon's expertise at characterization. reading GR
now, in which i do believe he has quite a bit of investment in his
characters, contrary to some of what i've heard (not on the list,
really).
ray