M&D pollicate

[jbor at bigpond.com]

On 14/01/2006:

>  "Ethelmer smiles and amiably pollicates the Revd..." (30) Is Pynchon
> saying that Ethelmer shows a "lack of spine" here?

Doubt it. From the context it seems to mean something along the lines 
of mollify or placate. The "pollicate" definition you found is for the 
word as an adjective; it is used here as a verb.

Pynchon also makes it very clear here that the text we are reading is 
not exactly the same as the tale the children hear. Wicks' misgivings 
about the usefulness of prayer are reported to us in the first 
paragraph of the chapter, but then, "[t]o the children", he lies and 
says precisely the opposite, that "Prayer was what got us through." So, 
what we read is *at least* a combination of Wicks' unvoiced thoughts 
and the story he narrates to the children. (Later on some of the 
episodes narrated to us are beyond anything Wicks ever knew.)

Remember the strictures about "Juvenile Rampage" and "moral 
usefulness", and telling only what is "suitable in the Hearing of 
Youth" (6-7). I think the point is being reiterated here that there is 
ever a type of censorship going on (note that Mr. LeSpark is present 
and possibly monitoring things at this point, Ethelmer being "less 
certain" of pollicating him with the smile). So it's doubtful that many 
of the details, jokes, songs etc, such as Bodine squeezing the bosoms 
of an opium-stoned prostitute (Mauve, on p. 28), actually get a 
sounding in this back parlor.

Related to this is the attraction 'Brae has developed towards Cousin 
Ethelmer. 'Brae's "Needlework" has already created comment amongst the 
adults (7), and she has been revealed as a something of a free spirit. 
And Ethelmer's "Innocence" is "long, even enjoyably, departed." (31)

best