Atdtda32: Clive's little reader, 900-903 #1

[Paul Nightingale]

Thus far in the chapter, the narrative has followed Dally in London/England,
noting her involvement in the elite social networks associated with, or
represented by, Ruperta. This of course includes "her newest faithful suitor
Clive Crouchmas, into whose gravitational field Ruperta had been able to
steer the girl with no more than a twitch of her cigarette" (899). Above the
section break on 900 she is "in expensive deshabille" for Crouchmas; below
it she is "wearing a gown made of printer's muslin" for the benefit of a
wider audience. In each case she is looked at, the reader positioned
alongside those looking at her. Then, down the page, the narrative reports
her "Tarot reading ... nothing fancy, the same reading a shopgirl might pay
sixpence for": another kind of scrutiny, or gaze, by implication one that
has relieved her, temporarily at least, of her celebrity status. Hence, "she
at least kn[ows] her way around the twenty-two Major Arcana", a form of
empowerment that enables her to follow Lew's explication on 901, "staring,
her expression more and more radiant". One can see her, after posing for
Naunt (897) and Crouchmas (900), as the "presentable young woman, unclad
..." etc (901): if the male gaze here ("A. E. Waite, following Eliphaz Levi
...") does attempt, somewhat disingenuously, to disguise itself, Lew's
rather more evident concern with "that naked woman part" produces a tension
between image/symbolism and interpretation, literal or otherwise.

As the chapter has progressed, each section has added to Dally's back-story,
providing her with a more complex social network. In 61.4, she is keeping
company with Crouchmas; here in 61.5 she meets Lew, now in 'private
practice'. He will introduce another kind of network, one associated with
the Tarot. When they meet there is an immediate misunderstanding, as though
Lew has simply replaced Crouchmas: "these parties did tend to have their
payback arrangements" (902). However, Lew is interested, not in Dally
herself, but in her relationship with Crouchmas; it would appear, then, that
Lew and Crouchmas have been brought into her "gravitational field". And Lew
now requires that she be a reader. The final part of the section deals with
a dialogue exchange, Lew and Dally discussing Crouchmas. If Dally does
indeed "kn[o]w her way around the twenty-two Major Arcana" (900), she will
subsequently claim she doesn't "exactly read the financial pages, can't even
understand the headlines" or indeed the German language (902).