MDDM Washington & Gershom

[David Morris]

I LOVE YOU, Otto!

>From: "Otto" <ottosell at yahoo.de>
>
>>Doug:
>>There you go with that Orwellian "slavery is liberty" again!  W's 
>>"attitude" can be just as easily explained the way I explained it:  W the 
>>stoned space cadet demonstrates a disconnect between what he is (slave 
>>owner and master) and what he does (permits intimacies between himself and 
>>a slave that some other slave owners don't), yet the master-slave 
>>relationship remains intact, his privilege sacrosanct. In the earlier 
>>encounter, Pynchon has shown Washington raving about the Jesuit
>conspiracy, stoned on pot and buzzed on punch, and so comfortable in his 
>privilege that he can afford to let Gershom fool around and mock power 
>relationships, as long, it seems, as he sticks to the king-fool jokes and 
>doesn't tackle more sharply defined master-slave subject matter (but it 
>seems Gershom turns the tables after all, see below). Pynchon's W is a 
>strange character, probably been out on the farm too long smoking that loco 
>weed, time for him to get busy again, come out of semi-retirement, get 
>involved in the revolution -- Pynchon sticks reasonably close to the 
>general outline of the historical Washington in such scenario, too 
>(although we don't know for sure if W smoked pot).
>
>
>You seem to criticise if someone is stoned?
[...]
>I think this is the solution to the problem: we cannot know. But to my 
>knowledge P. is the first writer who does not only tell or refer to the 
>fact that GW had grown hemp (speculating from this that he *could* have 
>smoked it too like R.A. Wilson does) but is presenting him smoking. If he's 
>been smoking we really should assume that he's been a more friendly 
>slave-holder who even smokes with his house-slave who attends, 'though 
>uninvited, the smoking session with two visitors without racial prejudices.

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