MDDM Ch. 30 Dolly

[jbor]

I like the way that in this chapter Pynchon shows that Mason and Dixon are
in fact mirrored in Dolly and Molly (M-D D-M). Ben F. had originally
introduced the two girls as "Students of the Electrickal Arts" (271.16), but
Dixon (and the reader) overlook this - they're *women*, after all - and view
them as no more than a couple of floozies. 299-301 portrays Dolly as more
than a match for Jere., both in terms of his profession as a surveyor and in
his natural intuitiveness. They sympathise with one another over their
partner's predisposition to melancholia, and the strain it puts on them both
to "be cheery all the time".

I also like the way that Dixon brings up Franklin (300.28), and is quickly
rebuffed by Dolly's reply. He apologises immediately, comically - admits to
poking his nose in where he shouldn't. And there's no reason to suspect that
Dolly's expression of respect for Franklin's character and intellectual
pre-eminence is insincere.

best