ATDTDA (5): The less fashionable one, 146-148

[Paul Nightingale]

The second, and shorter, section of Ch12 deals with events at FV's club in
Washington. There is a moment of anxiety when FV considers "the growing
political tension in the Transvaal", as he wonders if he should try to
profit ("put some money in Rand shares"). He sees himself as seen by others:
"If anyone observed me shaking from time to time, they assumed it was the
usual bush fever". He himself "[has] begun to notice, among southern Africa
hands in particular [a] vernacular of unease and hallucination". He agrees
that he should be in Africa, still.

Our introduction to FV was as his father's lackey ("... at the behest of his
father ..." and "[o]ne of [his] chores", 130), sensitive to the fact that
"important data were being withheld" (131). With the expedition he sought
the company of the gathered intellectuals. Here in the Explorers Club ("the
less fashionable one", of course, 146) he is again concerned with status.
For those he meets, status depends on colonial adventure: "I say, 'Wood,
isn't there a story about you out there, dispatching a coolie or something
with a Borchardt?" (147). He is surrounded by people--presumably an all-male
environment, although this doesn't need to be stated, just as the absence of
the ship's crew in the previous section could be taken for granted--who
specialise in backward glances. The reference to FV's weapon of choice ("a
Borchardt") is specialised language (as opposed to, simply, 'a fancy
pistol'). Cf: Scarsdale Vibe and the "elderly woman" (31). Here, FV has
claimed the "coolie" he shot "was looking at me strangely"; and then refuses
to elaborate on the meaning of "strangely". One might recall the description
of "the thing regard[ing] us with what, later, when we had begun to
appreciate the range of its emotions, we might too easily have recognised as
contempt" (144).

This section continues the concern with language and linguistic propriety:
just as FV reluctantly allowed the song to enter his Journal, so is there
here a reference to the "questionable rhyme" of a poem (146). As previously,
propriety and status are linked, and the passage immediately goes on to the
ordering of society: "Us and natives" (147). Again dialogue is left
unattributed, so which, if any, of the speeches on this page belong to FV?
He does claim ownership of a brief one-liner concerning the "coolie",
insisting: "It is as far as I have ever gone with that story". He resists
another speaker's probing: "Well, I didn't exactly ask him what it meant,
did I?" If speaking draws attention to oneself, FV wishes to remain out of
it.

FV begins by saying he should still be in Africa. In this section, the "we"
of the previous section is nowhere in evidence. The setting is different, of
course, so it is plausible that FV will regard others differently.
Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that he distances himself from others in the
club; and the unattributed dialogue might be said to emphasise his
alienation from the group. The previous section ended with FV accepting
membership of "a mass of citizens" (146); the current section ends with what
"was understood at some point by all in the company ..., the bad dream I
still try to wake from" (148).