MDMD Washington & Gershom

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

 From: Doug Millison <millison at online-journalist.com>

>I support John Bailey's rather sinister reading in this instance. If
>Washington didn't intend to to get them stoned,  would he tempt visitors
>with the smell? That would hardly be hospitable.   I doubt Dixon would have
>raised the question if W hadn't made it so obvious -- it's as if he was
>just looking for an excuse to offer a toke. Hospitable he is, but also more
>than a little calculating, it seems to me.

But he is less powerful, or should I say less "fundamental" than
Franklin. And I mean this: When M&D 'tunneled' to Mt. Vernon
from Philly it set up the comparison between Franklin and
Washington, and between the two "set pieces." They are similar
but assymetric. Franklin is a strong enough influence to 
separate the two- they pissed apart, and while successful
in avoiding being "had," Franklin was able to extract a significant
amount of info about each of them, particularly the differences
in their styles and characters. Also, Franklin has enough power to 
keep his "Gershom" in place and under control, while we see
by comparison, Washington's difficulty in maintaining control. Martha
also has a significant role in the Mt. Vernon scene, while the
feminine counterpart in the apothecary shoppe requires only
the gentle cajoling: "Ladies, Ladies" and is split into two twins,
Molly and Dolly, that form an indistinct cloud about his powerful
presence. There are many other asymmetries, e.g., the intoxicants
are more powerful in Philly, etc.

I'll give it to you straight up and fill in the details, Time willing,
(and list interest) in another post. If the apothecary shoppe 
presented a metaphor for reality on the quantum level: wave 
mechanics, complementarity, Planck's constant, then the trip 
to Mt.  Vernon, ending in the uphill trek, represents the "collapse 
of the wave function" and their arrival in the classical world of 
strict determinism, sensitive dependence on initial events and
the ability to measure both momentum and position simul-
taneously, at least in principle.

It is significant, as the plot unfolds, that Franklin is encountered
first- the quantum description of reality is more fundamental, and
more importantly, time independent. Washington's paranoia about
simultaneity- "Marvel of instant Communication" and his obsession
with Time  "Our greatest problem as Time" signify that Mt. Vernon
is in the classical domain. 


> However the author may be playing with the historical Washington here, I
>suspect he's playing as well with popular conceptions of more recent
>Presidents who have been rumored to use what Pynchon has called, elsewhere,
>a useful substance.
> That " *Yarmulke* on the Peruke on the slave" may be " a curious display of
>black on white *on black*, but, in the context of the Vegas-style jokes, it
>made me think of the rather famous black convert to Judaism, Sammy Davis,
>Jr.

 I think the "problem" of Gershom- who is both a bain and a
blessing- needs alot more elaboration. Just saying that he is a 
figure for the eponymous french talmudist amounts to a
bunch of jibber jabber. If we're going to make this trip
worth the price paid to our favorite dealer, wouldn't
it be more fun if we connected the dots? 


p.s. Characterizing either Franklin or Washinton as sinister,
it seems to me, implies that M&D are without gile. Else
the question is begged: Sinister with respect to whom?