ATDTDA (7): Mr Kindred, 194

[Paul Nightingale]

A short section in which we are offered an alternative
view of Deuce, now "Mr Kindred". Previously he had
managed to ingratiate himself with Webb, not least in
the exchange regarding "ol' Avery" (193). One can
speculate that the view given there, or much of it, is
dependent on Webb's perceptions: he is perhaps anxious
to see in Deuce the child he has failed, at home, to
nurture (as he sees it: "the whole fuckin poker hand",
192). Our introduction to Deuce (in particular, "some
recently exhibited legal interest in his person") is
ambiguously framed, given that we have no way of
knowing if Webb is party to this knowledge; and this
subsequent section (194) both clarifies the situation
and alters the reader's relationship with Webb. That
he is now, implicitly, threatened by Deuce confirms
what he has said in the past, of course (eg speaking
to Kit, 104-105); but he appears vulnerable where once
he did not. Not least, his vulnerability is
inseparable from the reader's sense of superiority
here: I know something he doesn't, etc.

The conversation between Deuce and "the company rep"
(194) is also predicated on the sense that any witness
shouldn't be offered incriminating evidence: from the
rep's pov this includes Deuce himself, but it also
implicitly includes a reader/voyeur. As Peter has
suggested, the writing in these pagess is indeed
cinematic, and here we have another Metzian moment in
which the reader identifies with the camera, so to
speak.

If we go back to the start of the chapter, Webb has
been offered as a successful worker, bonding with
drinking buddies (189); then in conflict with his wife
and daughter, when they threaten his patriarchal
authority (189-191); then negotiating a relationship
with Deuce, one that attempts to bridge the divide
between work and family (193). Finally, the scene
between Deuce and the rep (Avery?) recalls the brief
scene between Mayva and Lake (192): Webb is excluded
from both.