ATDTDA (17): The last two, or do I mean three, got lost, 476-477

[Paul Nightingale]

And now, "he had felt not so much working on one side of the Law or the
other as protected from the choice itself". Waiting for Webb's ghost is
waiting for something significant to happen, an event to provide the way
forward. At the outset, "Brother Traverse here is a major figure in the
world of criminal Anarchism" (197); but he is not dealt with 'legally', ie
by the state (and cf. Burke to Lew, hoping his brother will be tried in
Denver, "where our local junta don't cut that much of a figure", 174).

The opening paragraph of the current section has it that Deuce, "on the run,
[is] secure only in forward movement" (476). So far in this chapter he has
'gone back' in order to find some kind of release, eg: "It would be
impossible for him to sleep in that house, ever again" (474). Or the
repetitive game he plays "in pursuit of [Lake's] forgiveness". Now he can
pause by "putting on the deputy's star" (476), all of which is possible as a
result of mistaken identity: the townsfolk are caught up in their own
repetitive game, a welcoming committee for any number of "peace officer[s]"
(477), some kind of quasi-religious ritual, complete with offerings of food.

Wall o' Death, Missouri has been "built around the remains of a carnival,
one of many inspired by the old Chicago Fair" (476). So this "forward
movement" takes us back to the novel's beginnings, just as the carnival's
"ruins ... converted to local uses" recalls "the battles of the Taklamakan
War" (444) and used weaponry "converted to uses religious and practical"
(445). The eponymous Wall of Death is now "a sacred ruin" attracting
"motorcycling pilgrims" (476); by way of contrast Deuce appears as some kind
of saviour (477).

One might also note the first impression gained by Deuce and Lake,
"peculiarly drawn" (476). Cf. the chapter's opening: "For a while it seemed
the only towns they ever came to rest in were ones that had picked up a bad
reputation among those obliged to visit regularly ..." etc (472).