ATDTDA (11): Flat Frank, 296-304 #3

[Paul Nightingale]

Following Dally's departure, Merle shows Frank the photo of Webb: "You're
maybe not his spit ." etc (299). Cf. Deuce's recognition of Webb in Lake
(262): the phrasing here ("of course he 'knew' who she was .") shifts the
emphasis from daughter to father, and in particular Deuce's relationship
with Webb. Similarly, Merle's comments (including "saved my girl once or
twice ." etc, 299) effectively exclude Frank from the shared history being
described: he is both Webb's son and also an outsider to the relationships
his father had with Merle and Dally.

Merle tells him: "Word is around, Frank. Boys want you gone." This is news
to Frank, who was "hoping for another day or two at least" (300). It also
reminds the reader of action that doesn't have Frank as its subject, so one
might say exclusion/marginalisation goes together with a kind of
objectification. Looking at the photo of Deuce and Sloat, Merle notes that
Bob Meldrum "couldn't stand the kid [ie Deuce] more'n five minutes" (301).
This might make Bob a canny judge of character: and the reader might be
thinking of Webb's infatuation with his surrogate son (eg, 196).

Dally's return signals Frank's departure via the tunnel, and his
introduction to ragtime: Dally notes his ignorance and proceeds to educate
him (302-303). She is also a leader, telling him of "a vacancy at the Silver
Orchid, I know the place, it's safe" (303). She says she knew he'd be
shocked: "Could've ate for a week bettin against your character." Dally has
also become an informant for the anthropologist. Cf. Wren earlier: she wants
him to take her to Denver Row, but in fact he wouldn't have gone there
without her (275). Subsequently, she "had come as far as she must to ask
what he would be least willing to answer" (279). Wren's function, it seems
had been to expose Frank to himself. In Telluride, ostensibly in disguise,
he has to insist on his name, and therefore his identity (with Bob, 290; and
Dally, 299 and 304). Dally now tells him of her own education (continuing
what Merle referred to earlier, 299). The reader always knows that Wren is
slumming it, amusing herself; here, Dally has had to learn how to get by.