MDDM Ch. 72 Dixon and the slave driver

[Terrance]

Doug Millison wrote:
> 
> jbor
> > > Dixon then lashes the cowering slave-drive with
> > his own whip eight times
> > > while he berates him.
> 
> Pynchon:
> >      ... Dixon follows, raising the Whip. "Turn
> > around, I'll guess *you've*
> >     never felt this
> 
> jbor:
> >... *you* ... *you* ... *you*
> > ... *you* ... *you* ...
> >     *you'll* ... *you* .... "
> 
> Very creative.  (How many weeks have you been waiting
> to present this?)
> 
> In my reading, however, jbor's interpretation here
> goes against the grain of restraint with which the
> author embues Dixon in this scene, P (via his
> narrator) chooses not to have D whip the slave-driver.
> The repeated "you" contrasts nicely with the
> slave-driver's "my" in his speech, "I'll do as I
> damn'd please with my Property" at the bottom of the
> previous page, 698.

Sure, I can see that. So Dixon is not striking the Driver when we read
those italicized YOUs. The italics are only anger emphasis, a
cracking,   straining breaking in Dixon's voice. This is in fact what
the narrator says. "His voice breaks." 

On the other hand, Dixon with his hat back on his head and his fist out
is a Abolitionist's cartoon I have seen many times. The strong and
righteous Quaker, his hat back on his head, stand with his arm stiff as
a slave driver moves into it. 

The broken tooth? 

Maybe the driver is not a liar. 

Maybe not.

But Dixon hit the man with his fist. Dixon is technically not a Quaker,
he is violent by nature, his desire to hit the man was as strong as
thirst (remember that Dixon claims that his drinking actually causing
him to become less violent, I assume the same is true of his smoking
Dagga, but that he is a violent man) does not practice non-violence,
most Quakers don't and never have. In fact,  before becoming the leaders
of the anti-slavery movement, Quakers were some of the most brutal,
active and successful dealers in Slaves in the New World.