MDDM Ch. 10 Aunt Euphy and the Bull's-Eye

[jbor]

Judy Panetta at judy at firemist.com wrote:

> 
> And what's with Aunt Euphie? And "Stuffy?"

"'twas Inconvenience which provided the recurring Motrix of Euphrenia's
adventures among the Turks" (103-104)

I think that "motrix" might come from the French (moteur, motrice --> motor
or drive). The inconvenience in this fragment of her Tale being her
inability to get a "Drink". Whether in Philadelphia or Arabia I'm not quite
sure, but (like Mason perhaps) she does have the knife as supporting
evidence.

"Most of her Tale, disguis'd artfully as traveler's Narrative, prov'd quite
outside the boundaries of the Girl's Innocence, as of the Twins' Attention."
                                                                (103)

She's an eccentric for sure, with either a colourful past or a vivid
imagination, and the mention of her "Tale, disguis'd artfully" makes the
reader aware once again of Wicks's narrative contrivances. But it's little
wonder that Mum and Dad engaged Wicks to take over the role of keeping the
kids amused with his more "suitable" tales of wonder and distant lands!

> 
> The bull's eye...hmmm. Reminds me of the eyeglasses in Gatsby. Whew, ain't
> that just too literal a leap, but seriously... the all seeing eye, watching
> the piety by day, the transgression at night?

The Bull's Eye is referenced (by Austra) at 91.25, to describe to the Vroom
girls the altered view of the colony as they walk up the mountainside: "That
is all it takes, to deliver them into Africa". (91.9) In this sense it is
the term used for a thick disc or boss of glass, such as one set into a
ship's deck to admit light. Hence a bull's-eye lantern is also called a
bull's-eye. (Brewer's)

So, the reference to the Bull's-Eye as "sovereign" at 99.26 indicates that
Austra's overview from outside the colony holds sway *within* the colony for
a time, that the Dutch masters are able or somehow compelled to see things
from her perspective (that of the Slaves, the Drosters), and so act with
more humility and compassion and less condescension to those they oppress.

Austra's point of view and voice are taken up in the narrative on quite a
few occasions, as with her scathing but unspoken comment about the Vroom
girls mounting "debit" to "African Women". (90.34)

> The man paints a picture of a
> community of slippery hypocrites, no? Perhaps it's heavenly accounting.

It's not so clear cut as that I think. (Never is in Pynchon imo.) The scene
where the four girls are reclining on the two Astronomer's Couches (95) at
the Observatory is quite a tender one, and recalls the Philadelphia drawing
room in many respects. And it is at just this moment that Mason "understands
that the vocal assaults of the Vroom Poultry are not inborn, but rather
learn'd in this world from their Owners." (92.26)

There is sympathy for Bonk, too, at Cape's tale's end, where he refers to
himself as "not such a bad Egg" and D & M catch "a glimpse of an entire Life
apart from the Castle." (102.13)

best