MDMD(5): Some Things Incomprehens'ble

[CyrusGeo at netscape.net]

Michel Ryckx <michel.ryckx at freebel.net> wrote:

>1. (58.15) 'sepia-shadow'd Her[r]en XVII'.  Does the colour sepia refer
>to their faces? Is it a colour used in their robes and other clothing
>(but I know they were usually dressed in black).  Is the use of sepia
>linked to richness, just as the use of the colour blue some centuries
>before was?
>
>2. (59.24) 'English Whiggery'.  Were British manners considered to be
>frivolous? (if so, by the way, they are still a long way off Victorian
>Values)
>
>3. Jeremiah and Charles stay (or rather: sleep) at the Zeemann house.
>But the Zeemanns are never presented.  Why?
>
>4. (60.34) 'narrative rubbish-tip of this Arm-chair commando': I simply
>don't understand that.
>
>5. Then there is the Funny Formula at page 61.  Most likely it is the
>novel's second koan. I think this because of the use of the MU-letter,
>which echoes the koan at 22.8: "A reply given by a certain very wise
>Master is, 'Mu'! ".  The scene: it is very early in the morning.  That
>the Clock 'having misinform'd him of the Hour', is not unnatural, clocks
>not being very exact at the time.  Charles Mason stumbles upon Johanna :
>'Resentment [. . . ] appears to be Fascination' (61.2-3).
>
>And now comes the formula with the following components:
>- A looking-glass;
>- the coefficient of mercy -none has reached .5, as reflected; and
>- these are given: the Lensman's Squint; a Stoop; the size of a certain
>frontal hemisphere ('ever a source of preoccupation') so, his, to say it
>neutrally, embonpoint. [An other one of those Pynchon code words:
>mirror]
>
>We know Mason wasn't able to eat when aboard the Seahorse. He must have
>then lost some weight.
>
>When I see .5 and fluctuation in one formula, then I think of cosinus
>for .5 is the cosinus of PI/3 (when, as any reasonable being, using
>radials; others'd say 60 Babylonian degrees).  A belly fluctuating?
>
>My solution does not make much sense: if one cannot see very clearly,
>and one is looking in the mirror, the mercy, as reflected by this
>mirror, over one's embonpoint, when one is in screaming distance, is a
>half (at most).  Not being good at physics in school: what does the
>symbol mu stand for in optics for? (I vaguely remember that lambda had
>something to do with elasticity)
>
>6. 'Cornelius Vroom [. . .] is an Admirer of the legendary Botha
>brothers, a pair of gin-drinking, pipe-smoking Nimrods of the generation
>previous whose great Joy and accomplishment lay in the hunting and
>slaughter of animals much larger than they.' (60.19-22)
>
>Botha, one of these heavy-laden Southafrican names: I can't find a thing
>on 17th or 18th century Botha-Nimrods.  Anyone?
>
>Michel.


Let me try to be of help, Michel.

1.  Sepia is rich (rather dark) brown, so I doubt it’s referring to the faces of the Heren XVII. And why does it say “shadowed”? I read it as a reference to a specific painting.
2.  I believe “whiggery” is used here in the sense of “liberalism”, or “rebelliousness”, since it is spoken by a conservative Dutchman.
3.  I don’t think there is a specific reason for that. The Vrooms are a quite interesting family by themselves. The Zeemans are probably used as an excuse: if Mason and Dixon were sleeping at the Vrooms’ house, they would never be able to resist temptation, would they?
4.  It means his stories are mostly rubbish, because he didn’t take part himself in most of those “epic adventures” he narrates. “Commando” is an interesting word, of South African origin (see the Boers wars).
5.  This is too complex for me. Mason is surprised at the fascination of Johanna Vroom with him, given his squint, stoop and belly. The coefficiency of mercy assigned to the looking-glass ... hmm ... hardly approaching 0.5 ... hmm ... is that 0.5 a factor of improvement of his image, given that every looking-glass must be merciful to the beholder? Could it be that women are seen as mirrors? (No, too far-fetched.) Sorry, not much help, am I...
6.  I couldn’t find any reference to any “Botha” before the 19th century. My guess is that either Mr. Pynchon has seen some reference somewhere and decided to use it, or the “legendary Botha brothers” are fictitious (it wouldn’t be the first time, would it...)

Cyrus


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