mddm 27: Franklin

[jbor]

Rereading Pynchon's Franklin's words in the novel again I get rather a
different impression. After we overhear his opening rant, which is quite
petulant, he then suddenly turns into little more than a dope dealer's
crony, figuring Jere for a patsy, in the apothecary shop. Then, in the
coffee-house, he's insufferably smug and patronising about Miss Davies, the
"Mozart child" and Mesmer. He seems to be connected, in some type of sting,
with the petty thief, Lewis, who lurks out by the dung-heap. After he
unsuccessfully tries to bribe Mason to spy on Dixon, and is even more
quickly aced by Dixon's deliberate show of false credulity, he then
retaliates by dredging up the Royal Society debacle over the letter. While
pretending to emphasise his "innocence" and sympathy, what he is really
doing is gloating about his own welcome and eminence at the R.S. in contrast
to Mason's and Dixon's virtual nonetity there. The image I get - "naked
narrow'd eyes" nodding "encouragingly", "twirling his ... curls", and his
"courtly way" - is that he is what might be called a right piece of work.

best




Bandwraith at aol.com wrote:

> I find it interesting that Ben ends up giving more info to
> both Mason and Dixon than he gets from either of them.
> I wonder if in fact that was more his intention. He is so
> adept. It is difficult to believe that the meeting between
> M&D and Franklin is anything but planned, especially with
> "Lewis" strategically planted in the alley.
> 
> And yet, he is so smooth that Mason and Dixon both are
> given to think that it is they that have smoaked out his
> apparent attempts to turn a profit, and that he is disorganized
> and unfocused. Meanwhile, the seeds have been planted.
> 
> Franklin is way, way ahead of the game, but I'm not sure what
> to make of his motives, or Pynchon's treatment of him here.
> During this period, he would have been in his fifties, already
> independently wealthy from a series of skillful business deals;
> he was ruthlessly competitive, not always fair, and a very
> hard worker- besides a string of important inventions to his credit,
> he would have already started the first lending library in America,
> the first fire brigade, the first philosophical society, founded
> the Pennsylvania Militia (to the chargrin of Penn) etc., etc. Of
> course, the honorariums and contacts with the R.S. are accurate,
> as well.
> 
> Apologies if this url on Franklin's Armonica has already been
> posted:
> 
> http://www.glassarmonica.com/armonica/franklin/
> 
> Franklin is such a rich character, hard to mythologize, it is
> fascinating to see Pynchon use him only as bit player. It begs
> the question once again, does it not: Why M&D?
>