mdmd(4) - Notes: Clive of India

[AS Rounce]

On Sat, 19 Jul 1997, davemarc wrote:

> Possible spoiler


> I thought the point was that Maskelyne benefitted from Clive's influence,
> and, during his more difficult periods, couldn't figure out just why Clive
> wasn't doing more for him.  Ultimately, though, he did advance, to Mason's
> consternation.  Mason realized that Clive's connections to the elite, his
> superiority at playing politics, did make a difference.
> 
> davemarc
> 
   In a general sense, yes, (i.e Maskelyne ended up as the AR and big
banana), but the strangeness of his behaviour (particularly on St.
Helena) suggests something more, I think. Clive is presented as the
panacea to all Maskelyne's ills (which, in material terms, & influence,
he may well be). But when we realise that Clive is just as
fucked-up as Maskelyne himself, then the limits of Clive's influence (in
terms of helping Maskelyne become more sane through example, for 
instance), become more obvious. (How else to explain the bizarre
dialogue on pp.140-141, which ends with Maskelyne's incongruous
sentimentality toward "the great Soldier whose Fate is hers.") Clive as
double-edged enlightenment hero/addicted depressive enhances the ironies
of the St. Helena locals (and others) assumming that Maskelyne's
relation guarantees him a charmed life.

A small distinction, I know, and maybe a non-existent one...


Adam Rounce