MDDM Ch. 72 Dixon's pistol?

[jbor]

on 25/8/02 5:41 AM, Terrance at lycidas2 at earthlink.net wrote:

>> Of course, the earlier incident in the novel doesn't indicate that Dixon
>> "packs a pistol" at all.
> 
> He carries a gun.

No, Dixon "seiz[es] a Pistol" (493.33). It is "a" pistol, not "his" pistol
or even "the" pistol. The scene in no way implies that this is Dixon's
weapon, or that it is his normal habit to carry a gun, which is what I
understood you were originally arguing. What it does imply is that Dixon
will take up arms if there is sufficient provocation, pro-active
self-defence being the motivation here. Whether or not he could ever have
brought himself to use the pistol remains a moot point.

> Of course I may be chastised here for a bit of
> hyperbole, but mine is no worse than your reading of the whipping that
> never happened. 

I wasn't chastising, I was disagreeing. It's a component of "discussion".

>[...]
>
> Sorry Rob, but I'm a bit disappointed here again.

That's OK, Terrance. I generally don't "value" your contributions either,
and I'm not offended in the slightest that you don't "value" mine.

best