ATDDTA (6): Fortune hunter, 168-170 #2

[Paul Nightingale]

The opening paragraph of the new section concludes with a reference to
Fleetwood's "sickbed of remembrance" (168) which begs the question: what is
the status, here, of the narrative voice? How is this act of "remembrance"
different from the earlier account of Yitzhak, which began with a confession
that his memory wasn't entirely trustworthy? How is it different from the
account contained in the Journal? We're told that Fleetwood yearned to be
one of the "saintly lieutenants" or "fugitives" who sought "the embrace of
the interior": these are people "indifferent to the nature of the goods they
handled" and therefore indifferent to the consequences of their own actions.
He leaves for the Transvaal when he feels "every bit of American
predisposition had been leached away" If, however, he is trying to escape
family, he cannot escape his dependence on "unregulated funds whose source
lay in criminal acts, however fancifully defined". The "no-limit game" (169)
that features in Johannesburg is an attempt to do just that, to stop being
Fleetwood Vibe, dilettante explorer.

The "story" of the man Fleetwood has shot resurfaces here: as in the brief
Journal account (147) it is introduced as a narrative, as opposed to a
simple 'statement of fact'. In the Journal account Fleetwood is reticent; in
the current section, the account is inconclusive, "a story" giving way to
"the other story" (169). The "queer euphoria" Fleetwood feels is inseparable
from his awareness that "[t]he American stain, after all, would not be
eradicated". He recognises that he cannot escape history: "too late". The
question of theft is irrelevant (a "legal pretence"); what matters is the
power he has, "the secret backlands of wealth" (170) that remain, always,
'here'. Given the references to intoxication, even drug-addiction, one might
see Fleetwood's state as a habit he is trying unsuccessfully to kick.

He is "comforted" to think that "on the karmic ledger the Kaffir and the Jew
balanced out"; but this is only fooling himself, there is no "remission of a
single minute of whatever waited for him". It is noteworthy that the
narrative has returned to the scene of this murder--an incident he was
earlier so reluctant to speak about--only after the scene with Yitzhak:
until "the karmic ledger" can be invoked in mitigation, however
unsuccessfully, he cannot acknowledge his addiction to "[t]he American
stain".