ATDTDA (9): Retirement plan, 253-254

[Paul Nightingale]

Chick is AWOL. Renata asks what will happen, but his 'prediction' does not
compare with those she has made previously. All she has done is signify her
ignorance of the rules and regulations involved; there are no cards to read.
The previous section began by establishing the amount of time the Chums
have, by now, spent in Venice, with Miles "off on one of his accustomed
fugues" (250); now Chick informs the reader that they are about to depart
(253); and Darby's appearance allows him to announce his reluctance to go
with them (254).

Earlier, when discussing the lighter with Renata, he speculated ("the way
Time seems to work", 252) about a future that might or might not include
them; and now he can foresee a "winter routine" that doesn't include him
(254). His reference here to "the retirement plan" allows the narrative
voice to confirm that there is no such thing, for Chums, as retirement, no
post-Chums phase to look forward to. This reference to "the job" might be
juxtaposed to the early-morning vendors who have been glimpsed above as a
result of Chick's early rising: "Two local fellows ..." etc (253-254).

Darby notes that "there's [not] much call for our skills down here" (254);
so they have to keep on keeping on. Briefly, it seems, Chick has considered
an alternative reality for himself, only to be brought up against the
unlikelihood of it ever happening. There is no liberation: this term is
apposite, given that the section ends with the expression of Renata's
nationalistic sentiments. Her prediction here is, again, of a different kind
to those offered earlier: "The more they meddle here ..." etc. She has
interrupted Chick and Darby talking about the Russians, picking up on
Darby's reference to "this dang Irredentism". He seems not to know, or
understand, what he is talking about here. Cf. the earlier exchange between
Chick and Lew, which implied an ignorance of "the Anarchist question" (37).