VLVL2 (3) A Finesi Romance #3

[Paul Nightingale]

Ch3 can be seen as the opening of the novel after a two-ch. prologue. It
is the first ch. to feature a flashback, the first to make significant
use of conflicting perspectives. Frenesi is absent for the first time in
this ch.; so she 'appears' for the first time in the novel as part of
the Zoyd-Hector relationship, itself still being established. What's
important, then, is the way Ch3 utilises info about 'the past': not
least, given the role played by the Sylvester-Tweety allusion to the
kind of narrative that exists permanently in the present. With regard to
Zoyd-Hector there is much detailed exposition: the flashback at the
start of the ch., followed by internal musing by both Zoyd and Hector.
Ch3 is built on the way Zoyd and Hector read each other and themselves,
read themselves in each other.

By way of contrast, all that is offered on Frenesi comes in the form of
a present-day dialogue: arguably, when discussing Frenesi, neither Zoyd
nor Hector says anything 'just' for the benefit of the eavesdropping
reader. In that respect, the text, having let the reader know of the
character named Frenesi, refuses to grant them access to her.

The first reference to Frenesi comes with the defunding passage (26-29).
Hector (speaking as "we") needs Zoyd. Frenesi, it seems, will allow
Hector to speak of "a free country" (30).

Following the first reference to Frenesi, which belatedly offers some
kind of motivation for this latest Zoyd-Hector reunion, the text
describes Hector's "advanced self-hatred" (29). Hence, the reading he
has offered (on 28) of Zoyd's character and behaviour (more elaborate,
and therefore more desperate, than the relatively succinct dismissal on
22) is shaped by this insight into his own status as a has-been. The
passage begins with Hector himself insisting on "the quality of descent,
having begun long ago concentrated and graceful as a sky diver". It then
continues with "Zoyd, the big idealist" offering a view of Hector's
"late midcareer" as somehow heroic in his refusal to quit. It's as
though Sylvester and Tweety realise that what binds them together isn't
the game they play, and Sylvester's inevitable failure, but the cage
that dooms them to go on playing the game.

Going back, before the first reference to Frenesi (26-27) the text
speculates ("Zoyd guessed", "Zoyd thought" - 25) as to Hector's
situation. However, Zoyd's reading of Hector here is inseparable from
Zoyd's reading of himself: "For Zoyd, a creature of attitude himself,
this long defiance had been Hector's most persuasive selling point"
(26). 

Moreover, it's important to note that this judgement allows Zoyd to
'explain' Hector. Consequently, in this passage, Zoyd is just as much
trying to impose order on, and make sense of, the situation as Hector
himself. Throughout, Zoyd continues puzzled ("why was Hector being so
unnaturally amiable?" - 27) as to Hector's motives. Rather more astute
than Tweety, Zoyd knows how unlikely it is that Hector has come down
with a terminal dose of "kindness".