MDDM ch.69: Forgive me, for what I must...

[jbor]

I like this observation, and hadn't really comprehended that Daniel was
apologising to the ground, which he is. I'd agree that there are probably
legitimate historical/cultural precedents for the detail.

It's noteworthy, I think, that both the cane and the venom which the
Catawbas have set up as a traps to kill the Iriquois are products of nature
too. There's no simplistic distinction here between some natural, innocent
world of the Native Americans and the evil, artificial world of the
Europeans, even though the juxtaposition you note is an apt one.

There's a reversal here, too, of that earlier magnification of scale with
the veggies, hemp tree etc, and another perspective on Mason's comment that
"[t]hey who control the Microscopick, control the World." (663.4)

best


Bandwraith wrote:

> [676.13]
> 
> Not sure if this Daniel is just a pynchonian "wooden"
> indian or whether there is some historical basis for the
> sort of behavior expressed by Daniel as he pushes
> the stakes dipped in serpent venom into the bosom
> of the earth, and asks forgiveness:
> 
> Forgive me, for what I must now beg you to
> bear at my hands...
> 
> Be that as it may, but within the text, this image
> contrasts with that of the crew digging deep post
> holes and sinking five to seven foot 12 x 12
> squared timbers into the earth heedless of anything
> but the labor involved- the earth just something to
> be exploited by their science, or "Weightless Obs" [681.22]