Atdtda36: Giving light a bad name, 1008-1011 #1

[Paul Nightingale]

The opening of this section recalls the panopticon and managed behaviour: on
the key role played by technology, cf also the subsequent introduction,
bottom of 1009, of the Death Special, 'for penetrating, controlling and
thinning down the size of ill-disposed crowds'. On 1008, searchlights keep
the tent colony awake but also deny the possibility of a time out of play,
so to speak. Hence, 'darkness ... was sought like warmth or quiet': it
confirms privacy. Moreover, this opening offers a relationship between
observers and observed that is in contrast to that indicated previously, ie
Stray's relationship with 'marksmen who had the high ground' (1007),
recalled in the Guardsman's words on 1010.

It is perhaps key that the passage focuses on Jesse's discomfort. His
arrival in the previous section ends the narrative of introspection that
takes Stray through several weeks or months in which she changes ('As the
winter went on ...' etc, 1007) but the situation remains pretty much the
same. Then, the dialogue exchange at the start of this section suggests a
particular moment in time, although it could be a summary of several similar
exchanges. Moreover, the exchange continues the discussion of Jesse's
youthfulness and vulnerability, Stray's role as protective parent. That
these are their ascribed roles is, in part, a denial of context, or an
insistence on family relations whatever the context: see the emphasis here
on the mother-son relationship and the reference to Reef as absent father
(1008). Eventually, Jesse ('Finally one night ...' etc) asserts himself as
an agent, leading to his 'shiteating grin', perhaps a coming-of-age moment.

This incident, shooting out the searchlight, is given no immediate
aftermath, the next paragraph beginning: 'It was the winter everybody ate
rabbit stew.' Perhaps, then, it has become a regular occurrence rather than
an act dependent on Jesse. Moreover, one can easily imagine that the
victory, if such it be, is short-lived; the searchlight will be easily
replaced. Jesse shooting out the searchlight might well balance the earlier
action, ie Stray being shot at; but it is, apparently, no more
consequential. By way of contrast, as a demonstration of power, we later
find 'the mood among the militiamen gr[owing] sharply uglier' (1009) as a
precursor to the closing scene with the Guardsmen.