MDDM Ch. 7 Attitudes to slavery

[jbor]

paulngale at supanet.com wrote:

> Perhaps it is Dixon's dissenting, working-class background that makes it
> easier for him to relate to the non-Dutch/colonialist population: "They have
> noted his unconceal'd attraction to the Malays and the Black slaves, - their
> Food, their Appearance, their Music, and so, it must be obvious, their
> desires to be deliver'd out of oppression" (p61). Later on, Mason ("another
> story") will refer to "this place as another Planet ... where these
> Dutch-speaking White natives are as alien to the civilisation we know as the
> very strangest of Pygmies" (p69). Mason, it seems, is guilty of
> anglocentrism and, therefore, incapable of the class analysis that Dixon
> ("what are tha talking about?") provides. Ultimately, Mason's
> identity/self-image will depend on his ability to put Dixon in his place.
> His "someday, Lad, you'll be running your own Expedition, bearing all the
> weight of Leadership" (p72) attempts to belittle Dixon, much as the
> colonialist mentality seeks to belittle native populations. Austra has been
> given a voice to explain the situation to a baffled Mason, and Dixon has
> already denied that the natives are "childlike" (p67).
> 

Though I also find Dixon more likeable than Mason to this point I don't
think it's quite as neat as this. Mid-chapter and D & M are entertaining
"prolong'd Phantasies upon the Topick" of slavery. Both of them apparently
"take their Joy of it." Mason imagines himself "being fann'd, fed, amus'd",
which Dixon asserts, only half-seriously perhaps, if not a wry smile then a
rising intonation to his voice at the very least: "Mason, why thah' is
dis-gusting ... ?" (69.14)

But a few pages later on it is Dixon who is glossing over the iniquities of
the Cape settlement. What Mason perceives as a "Viper-Plantation" with the
Dutch Company as the Devil's own "Caretakers" Dixon characterises as a "Gala
that never stops." (71) Thing is, Dixon says his dreams are "very like"
Mason's, so it's not much what is perceived as the way it is perceived.

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