ATDTDA (8): Greenhorn, 225-227

[Paul Nightingale]

The new section begins by juxtaposing "greenhorn" to
"traditional readings", the one suggesting no
history-in-context (and therefore,
naivety/inexperience/ignorance etc), the other
membership of, or access to, some kind of history (and
therefore the opposite of naivety etc). As an
outsider, or initiate, the greenhorn is excluded from
whatever traditional knowledge gives the insider--in
this case, the Cohen--an advantage. Yet Lew's access
to what-is-called-tradition is precisely one that
makes him an outsider here, specifically his reliance
on the kind of reading that depends on a
'straightforward' (for want of a better, less
problematic term) relation between signifier and
signified. It is, therefore, one tradition among many.
The "nomenclatural flexibility" cited here represents
an alternative tradition, a refusal to be nailed down
to a single meaning; and Lew is still out of synch.

His adviser at the outset, not named until 226, is
likely the Grand Cohen, who perversely does insist on
nailing down meaning, eg Temperance becomes
self-indulgence: subsequently, "Lew, who'd been hoping
for a quiet evening," will find anything but (226). 

The sudden appearance of a "neophyte" with "face white
as plaster" suggests the possibility of a staged
scene, the Cohen responding to his cue and taking Lew
with him. Lew is also a neophyte of sorts (without the
"mauve fedora"; but his relationship with the Cohen is
less formal at this moment in time. He might be
reactive, but has already established the
(ritualistic?) need to remove shoes and socks: the
Cohen wears "ceremonial robes" but is also shoe-less.
Throughout, the Cohen's role as authority figure is
signified by Lew's greenhorn-status.

Renfrew/Werfner are also experts, or "leading
specialist[s]": their "bickering-at-a-distance" and
"true mutual loathing, implacable and obsessive" is
what defines the Eastern Question, precisely in terms
of alternative nationalistic traditions. The Cohen (by
"outlin[ing] the situation") is in a position to
summarise; no longer alternates, then, R/W are said to
be represented by "a pair of demons, genders
unspecified". Not only does the Cohen depend on the
presence of a greenhorn, then, he depends on a
situation that has gone beyond Kipling's "simpler
day".

In Chicago/Detroit, Lew's role was defined by
opposition to something called the world-wide
anarchist conspiracy: nationalism wasn't really part
of the equation. Having come to London he has
discovered another kind of political discourse. Hence
the tweedledee/tweedledum naming of the professors:
the threat of an enemy is still good for business, of
course, and "spellbound familiars and enslaved
disciples" will always be able to find employment. Lew
might be aware of how this resembles the situation he
was in previously.