ATDTDA (11): Kit as flaneur, 320-322

[Paul Nightingale]

Frank's 'meeting' with Webb's ghost is followed now by Kit's dream; and Webb
questions Kit's commitment to knowledge, as Scarsdale Vibe did up the page.
Moreover, the "strange variety saloon full of the usual collection of
lowlifes" sounds like the kind of place Frank has frequented in previous
chapters. The letter Professor Vanderjuice gives him (321) has been opened;
a page or so back, we were told of his belief that "Vibe sentinels, eyes in
leafy ambuscade" have been keeping him under "minute-to-minute surveillance"
(319), just as Frank believed he was being tracked (eg, 273-274).

This, then, is the moment when Kit learns of his father's death, although we
have no way of knowing (I think) how long the letter has taken to reach him.
We have no way of knowing if he has kept his promise to Mayva (106). Like
Frank before him, he "wander[s] without any clear plan" (321): this also
recalls his visit to the Vibe mansion (162-163). At this point he realises
that "nothing known to the alternate universe of vector analysis could bring
him comfort" (322). Gibbs' "metaphysical promise" (319) has let him down; so
perhaps Scarsdale Vibe has a point. If one can infer from his conversation
with Fax that he has rejected the society of others, in favour of the
pursuit of (disinterested?) knowledge, then his isolation here might be
poignant. In particular, the final sentence ("He came to rest . and let
himself cry", 322) does not indicate purposeful agency.