MDDM Washington

[Paul Mackin]

Otto quoting a couple of critics contributes what will no doubt be grist for
the p-list mill. Thanks, Otto.

Norman Fischer: "Attended by a black slave who seems much smarter than he (GW)
is, and of whose
exploitation Washington seems completely unaware, Pynchon's Washington is at
best ridiculous and at worst ominous."

Me: I would love to know the purpose of Gershom in the passage.. He's a
complete cipher as a believable character so he must signify something pretty
darn important. For the life of me, however,  I don't see how he makes GW looks
ridiculous or ominous (which in real life he may well have been). Rather he
makes George look like a most tolerant boss, which of course the nature of
slavery makes a contradiction in terms. I keep wondering what is it that makes
certain observers think that _Mason & Dixon_ was written for the enlightenment
and instruction of the Society of Colonial Dames, or perhaps for the "Gone With
the Wind" fan club.

 David Wallace" "Further, in also playing the role of razor-sharp court
jester--he (Gershom)
reels off King George jokes in smoky taverns--Gershom, like Pynchon, unmasks
the ideological pretensions of power."

Me: Undisputable. King Jokes tend to do this regardless of whether they are
told by a slave or freeman. But as a matter of fact it IS Gershom doing the
telling. About all we can conclude is that Gershom is a very observant fellow.

My question of last evening remains: What's the point of all of this. There
must be a hidden meaiing somewhere.

P.

Otto wrote:

> An opinion:
>
> NORMAN FISCHER: CIVIC REPUBLICAN POLITICAL/LEGAL ETHICS AND ECHOES OF THE
> CLASSICAL HISTORICAL NOVEL IN THOMAS PYNCHON'S MASON & DIXON
> "Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, expresses civic republican political and
> legal ethics. This claim may sound perverse, partly because to many readers
> the multiculturalism and attack on the founding fathers that pervades Mason
> & Dixon stands at the opposite of civic republicanism. Indeed, Mason & Dixon
> is anti-republican if one sees civic republican ethics as requiring unitary
> ideals of society, state and law, many of which Mason & Dixon seeks to
> deconstruct. But such unitary ideals are neither necessary nor sufficient
> for civic republicanism. Mason & Dixon expresses civic republicanism for
> three reasons. First, civic republican ethics is in some ways more open to
> including seemingly maverick forms of itself than other parts of republican
> theory. The Author will argue that the key necessary condition for civic
> republican ethics is public spiritedness, and that commitment to unity is
> not a necessary condition. Mason & Dixon is anti-republican in its
> deconstruction of ideals of a unitary American political and legal ethics
> traditionally associated with Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, all of
> whom are ridiculed in the book. Mason & Dixon deconstructs the unity
> associated with the American founding fathers. In doing so, Mason & Dixon
> sides more with deconstructive legal theory than traditional republicanism.
> But Mason & Dixon does present a public spirited republican ethic, albeit a
> dissident one. Second, Mason & Dixon is in the literary tradition of the
> historical novel, a tradition which inherently inclines to civic republican
> ethical themes. Third, even when Mason & Dixon is most at odds with the
> traditional historical novel and the inevitable republican political and
> legal ethics that clings to it, Pynchon's novel still unavoidably evokes
> both traditions.
> (...)
> Attended by a black slave who seems much smarter than he is, and of whose
> exploitation Washington seems completely unaware, Pynchon's Washington is at
> best ridiculous and at worst ominous."
> http://www.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/okla/fischer24.htm
>
> and another one:
> DAVID W. LAWRENCE
> COUNTERFEITING AMERICA IN MASON & DIXON
> "Included in those conditions is, of course, slavery, and Pynchon's humanely
> satiric portrayal of Washington places him in a peculiar relation to that
> institution as well. Washington's farcical mimicking of black dialect as he
> gives orders to his slave, Gershom, shrinks the distance between the
> "Virginia gentleman" and the oppression that sustained his privileged
> position. That Gershom doubles as a Jewish comedian playfully invokes the
> African-American adaptation of the Old Testament narrative of enslavement
> and deliverance, which casts Washington as a kind of unwitting, good-natured
> pharaoh. Further, in also playing the role of razor-sharp court jester--he
> reels off King George jokes in smoky taverns--Gershom, like Pynchon, unmasks
> the ideological pretensions of power."
> http://www.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/okla/lawrence24.htm
>
> Otto
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
> To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 7:22 AM
> Subject: Re: MDDM Washington
>
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