ATDTDA (8): A dim idea, 210-214

[Paul Nightingale]

The first half of this section is devoted to the
"ambiance of limitless iniquity" (211) in town. The
reader shares Reef's pov here, with the Reverend as
his guide. What is striking is (a) the caricature of
lawlessness that we might already be familiar with;
and (b) the inconsequential nature of the entire
passage. Visiting the Scalped Indian Saloon, for
example, is "the first of many pauses in what would
develop into a daylong exercise in transgression". It
is difficult to establish time and place; and just as
difficult to establish how much Reef observes, how
much information is provided by an independent
narrative voice, how much is a summary of what the
Reverend says in his role as tour guide. Similarly,
the Governor is described in some detail, although he
doesn't actually put in an appearance. One effect of
this writing is to undermine Reef as a narrative
agent.

Only when the Governor has been introduced does Reef
find Webb, "in time to keep [his] carcass from the
carrion birds" (212). In time also to see Deuce and
Sloat riding away (212-213). However, there has
appeared--and continues to appear--little sense of
urgency on his part. Time then passes as he tries to
retrieve the body from the tower, "[t]hrough dusk's
reassembly of the broken day" (213).

He is watched by locals "with varying degrees of
disengagement". When he finally does climb to the top
of the tower "he happen[s] to sight Marshall Grimsford
heading out here with a small party of deputized
townsfolk"; so his success is timely. That "out here"
suggests that the action has taken place outside town,
or on the outskirts of town, which of courses makes
sense; although one might wonder why he has spent so
mjch time in town with the Reverend.

Wherever the tower is located, he has been able to
continue for quite a while before the marshall does
appear. Again, even though it is now night, and the
posse must be a way off (otherwise he wouldn't be able
to escape), he can clearly make them out. He avoids
any interaction with the posse, just as he avoided
Deuce and Sloat. In the section as a whole, there is
little that could be called confrontation. Webb is now
"a cargo of contraband" (214), but Reef, nonetheless,
enjoys great mobility: "Rappelled down the dark,
blood-red wall, stole a horse, found another outside
of town to pack Webb on, hit the trail south with no
sign of pursuit and only a dim idea of how he'd got
there."

If finding Webb has been his purpose, then, one might
ask the purpose of the detour with the Reverend.
Furthermore, one might ask why the inhabitants of
Jeshimon are so devoted to their pursuits, yet
"[live]in fear of the Governor, forever to and fro in
Jeshimon and apt to arrive anywhere in town without
warning" (212). 

The section, by its end, reads like a digression: the
rescue of Webb's body is an afterthought.