Atdtda [4]: Ongoing dispute, 109-111

[Paul Nightingale]

The new section brings "political instability" and a threat to the
established authority of Randolph and Lindsay. There is passing reference to
the assassinated President McKinley: as with the earlier appearance of Franz
Ferdinand (45, passim) the text does not make it (ie assassination)
explicit, but McKinley, like FF, is closely tied to any discussion of
anarchism at that time. Anarchism has been described repeatedly as anti- or
un-American, an alien virus: hence the narrative importance of the "ongoing
dispute over the choice of a new figurehead for the ship". The section
begins with a reference to "[m]ealtimes lately" before identifying the
"ongoing dispute": the implication is that this detail has been missing from
the distant overview provided at the end of the previous section, when "the
boys" were described so generally. In narrative terms, then, the general
description glosses over, or suppresses, any reference to the kind of
conflict now described in detail: just as a "figurehead" serves the symbolic
function of providing consensus by erasing reference to possible sources of
conflict within the community.

The "ongoing dispute" is also inseparable from a rare reference to ageing
among the ageless Chums: Darby's voice "ha[s] changed, its charmingly
insubordinate tone ... darkened to something more considered and, to that
degree, disquieting" (109-110). Ageing is one indication that the Chums
inhabit something that might pass for 'the real world' where 'rules of
nature' are unavoidable. Darby, one might add, has now been distanced
somewhat from his 'natural' companion, "the reliably humorous Chick
Counterfly", although the text reminds us of their earlier, easy,
camaraderie with their shared enthusiasm for the "curvaceous" figurehead
(109) and their mockery of Lindsay (110).

In keeping with their status, Randolph opts for "a safe and patriotic
choice"; Miles "[doesn't] care ... as long as it was something to eat"; and
Lindsay "argue[s] as always for pure abstraction". This is the kind of
characterisation that established and differentiated the Chums at the
beginning of the novel: hence, the narrative returns us to the heady
optimism of the earlier novels in order to undercut it. The text notes that
"[t]he figurehead debate, at first no deeper than varying decorative tastes
might account for, had grown bitter and complex", providing opportunities
"to exchange shoves and, not infrequently, blows". Such opportunities are
"pretexts" as though conflict cannot be directly acknowledged.

The section concludes with Miles' odd behaviour, a loss of perspective
perhaps, a withdrawal from the conflict surrounding him: after all he makes
no contribution to the "figurehead debate". In all of this, the leadership
of Randolph, and the authoritarian control exercised by Lindsay, appear
neutralised: Lindsay has had no response to Darby's "danged shipboard
politics" outburst (109) and the subsequent mockery of Darby and Chick.