MDDM Ch. 72 Dixon's act of violence

[Dave Monroe]

Whatever else y'all want to argue about (most of which
doesn't include anything I want to argue about, so
...), again, Doug does have a good point about
precisely what doesn't quite happen here ...

"Dixon places his Fist in the way of the oncoming
Face,--" (M&D, Ch. 72, p. 698)

Not QUITE the same as "punch[ing] him in the face,"
though, again, the physical (mechanical,
physiological) results are the same.  And it is a
significant departure from what apperas to be not only
a stanadrd account of the possible historical basis
for teh account, but perhaps even Pynchon's source as
well ...

"Dixon came upon a slave driver mercilesly beating a
poor black woman.  Going up to him he said: 'Thou must
not do that!' [...]  Then righteous wrath overcame his
Quaker principles.  He was a tall and powerful man,
and an imposing figure, so without more ado he seized
the slave driver's whip and with it gave him the sound
thrashing that he richly deserved."

>From H.W. Robinson, "Jeremiah Dixon (1733-1779)--A
Biographical Note," Proc. Am. Phil. Soc. 91 (1950), p.
273 ...

But, even so, a "punch" is never quite "thrown," and
therefore isn't quite a "punch."   The two or more of
you can argue just why that might be ad
infinitum/nauseum, but, in and of itself, that IS an
astute observation, "close' reading of the kind so
often advocated, at least, here. So let's giive him
credit where credit's due, okay?  okay ...

Anyway, surprised me, 'cos I'd most recently read the
Robinson account, and that's what came to mind when I
saw the subject come up here ...

--- jbor <jbor at bigpond.com> wrote:
> 
> Dixon has just punched him in the face hard enough
> to break a tooth, is threatening to use the whip on
> him, and then possibly does start using it at 699.5-
> 7. Why else is the slave-driver suddenly on the
> ground? (Cf. "Dixon reaches down ... " at 699.8)

"... the Driver cries out and stumbles away" (p. 698) 


Well, nothing about falling, but ...

"'Now be a man, face me, and make it easier, or must I
rather work upon you from the back ...." (p. 699)

But the Slave Driver COULD be on the ground, face
down, OR he could be cowering, cringing, whatever,
back to Dixon ...

"Dixon reaches down ..." (ibid.)

Could mean, "Dixon," standing "reaches down" to the
man on the ground (though either he's somehow stooping
over or hunkering down, or he has extraordinarily long
arms), or that "Dixon," taller (and he's been
described as notably tall, so maybe he is long-armed
[like the law?] as well ...) than the Driver, "reaches
down" to 'the man's Belt."  However ...

"... the Driver, cringing there among the Waggon-Ruts"
(p. 699)

... does imply that the Driver is on the ground,
perhaps on his belly (dust shall he eat, then?), on
his knees, on all fours, whatever, presumably, from
either the impact of Face with Fist (but not QUITE
from a "punch"; if you park your car on the tracks in
front of an oncoming train, are you thus "ramming"
it?), or from the resultant pain.  And so forth.  But
all that isn't specified, possibly because it just
doesn't matter.  the inetresting bit, again, is that
non-punch ...

But, hey, Ch. 40's full of all sorts of nifty stuff
about political/theatrical/whatever representation,
economic exploitation, labor strife, oppresion, and
the emergent "American" identity, surely, y'all have a
little something to say about any or all of that?
Well, okay then ... 

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