ATDTDA (2): Austrian Archduke (45.4)

[Paul Nightingale]

There is passing reference to Franz Ferdinand's future status (Nate's
"knee-slapper", 46); but beyond that we've only the 'knowledge' we bring to
the text, our competence as readers, to give the character significance.
Another example, then, of dramatic irony: FF proposes that he be allowed to
hire the Stockyards to 'hunt' Hungarians, "the lowest level of brute
existence", just as Scarsdale Vibe attacks Tesla's "system of free power" as
"the end of the world" (33-34). One might say Pynchon reminds the reader of
the novel's title, invoking historical signifiers ("the most terrible weapon
the world has seen", 34; the archduke's name and hubris) in order to play
with the meanings the reader brings to the text. 

Vibe, as a representative of capital, is a contemporary figure; FF, as a
European aristocrat, is a throwback to an earlier time, one characterised by
a mode of production that has been overtaken. What they have in common, of
course, is a hatred and fear of the anarchist, as Nate points out at the
beginning of the chapter.

Nate explains that FF has no interest in "the wholesome educational exhibits
on the fairgrounds"; he prefers to 'slum it'. Earlier, when Lindsay and
Miles visit the Fair, its ideological function is established straightaway
(22); this function is described in racial terms, but the New World's
superiority over the Old is evident. When FF tells Lew he is "looking for
... something new and interesting to kill" (46) he attempts to turn Chicago
back into something resembling the Old West--to which Lew replies: "Not ...
anymore, Your Highness", the epithet confirming incongruity that has been
evident since the opening of the chapter, perhaps, when Lew questions his
assignment (45).