Atdtda23: Well, things are kind of slow, 639-643

[Paul Nightingale]

Another take on fate with "the pit waiting in the shadows of near futurity".
Laughter is "somewhat louder and more anxious ..." etc. The party serves as
denial, the "ballroom murmurous with tiled fountains ..." etc somehow
outside history. However, anonymous "revelers" are pessimistic: "...
anything goes wrong up there with the trusts ..." etc. One might think back
to Bleecker Street on 348. The disappearance of Kit, bottom of 349--although
it will be a while until he is so identified--is echoed by Gretchen's
"propensity ... for disappearing" (640). Here, Gunther's "worried
expression" reminds us that, far from waiting for disaster, he is doing
business. And so is Frank, whose interest in rifles takes him to meet
Eusabio Gomes/Wolfe Tone O'Rooney. The party has brought together people who
aren't Mexican; but beyond that they have little in common, it seems. Ethnic
identity provides a mask. Within the narrative the party stages the
conversation between Frank and Gunther; their meeting might have taken place
elsewhere, but here it sharpens the contrast between the two scenes. At the
start of the section: "... louder and more anxious than in, say, the average
Saturday-night cantina" (639). A couple of pages later: "They found a little
cantina ..." etc (641).

Wolfe Tone's reference to Reef (641) links him to Gunther, who brought news
of Kit (637); so in this chapter Frank has been reminded of both brothers,
which allows the political situation (and the shipment of rifles) to be
juxtaposed to the Traverse family's conflict with Deuce Kindred. Different
takes on the concept of justice. Frank himself mentions Lake ("that bitch",
641) and even suggests that she might be "playin the long game": a covert
operation, then, not dissimilar to that being run here by Frank/Ewball/Wolfe
Tone.

By the end of the chapter "their old jailmate Dwayne Provecho" (642) has
given Frank the opportunity to leave town (643). The chapter started with:
"Frank had sworn that once he was out of Mexico he was out ..." etc (637);
however, to the final page, there appears to be little happening in that
direction. As a narrative agent Frank is far from active here.