ATDTDA (9): Some kind of, 250-253

[Paul Nightingale]

Chick is now Interrogations Officer (251). He questions Miles, and then
questions Renata (252); "[s]troking his whiskers roguishly" corroborates the
view of his role (introduced in the osteria, 246) as player. Miles, when he
has his vision, is "off on one of his accustomed fugues through Venice"
(250); and we are told, subsequently, that Chick "nevertheless felt, as
always, a stab of guilt at the passions with which Miles reported his
visions" (252); so the repetitive nature of these moments is emphasised. Cf.
the way in which Lew's routine is revealed (eg the "muscle jobs" exchange
with Renfrew, 240).

 

Here, forward momentum is provided by the exchange with Renata; Chick
explains casually that his cigarette-lighter hasn't been invented yet and
might be part of a future involving neither of them: "It's not the way Time
seems to work."

 

Renata's take on "the way Time seems to work" is provided by the Tarot: "She
shuffled and reshuffled the layout twice more, and each time it converged to
the Tower ..." (253). Repetition here "caus[es] her to grow still, to
breathe less deeply": as a scientist, say, she repeats the experiment to
test her results. Moreover, we seem to be dealing here with the "traditional
readings" that Lew found wanting earlier (225): "The only other Major Arcana
dealt up seemed to be gentle suggestions about character reform, such as
Temperance and Fortitude." (253)

 

She also insists that the cards are older than "Christ and the Gospels, let
alone the papacy". This is in response to Chick's comment regarding belief
in "Protestant lands such as England": another "traditional reading", to
which is juxtaposed her revisionist account. Renata is evasive, refusing to
allow Chick's interrogation to confine her to straightforward responses:
"Some kind of lightning. Some kind of fall." Earlier, "she gently [held] his
wrist in the traditional way, pretending to examine his patent
cigarette-lighter" (252). Here, "the traditional way" is tied to
"pretending"; she isn't really interested in the lighter. Subsequently, she
offers an alternative to "traditional readings" that exposes him as
ignorant: previously, it was Chick who was rendered authoritative by her
ignorance (be it feigned or genuine).

 

This emphasis on interpretation ("[s]ome kind of ...") means the phenomena
in question will have to be read as the cards are. This is where the section
ends, giving Renata the final word. Cf. Chick's attempt to get a straight
answer out of Miles: "Are you sure it wasn't just somebody wearing a mask
..." etc (250-251). Miles, responding to Darby's mockery, goes on to
question the nature of their quest, "an inquiry into our own duty, our fate"
(251). In each case, the "Interrogations Officer" is undermined by his
inability to have the final word.

 

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