M&D Ch 20. p.202 Force majeure: Derivatives & Ambiguities

[Jerome Park]

In times of terrible trouble, in times when we are stunned by shared grief,
a human and humane agreement, to protect the most vulnerable (children who
have lost their mother in this case) is more easily arrived at. One that
uses the force of Grief to to keep money from undermining the humane
contract. But time, the currency of science, heals all wounds and a
renegotiation of terms will employ forces far greater than grief and less
humane.

On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 12:58 PM, Jerome Park <jeromepark3141 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> "Force Majeure", like "Inherent Vice", is a legal, often a maritime law
> term that Pynchon enjoys sprinkling about his books with all puns and
> ambiguities, intended and unintended. in play.
>
>  The force majeure clause is employed by Mr. Dixon and Mr Mason after the
> "Interdiction at Sea" (47).
>
> "interdiction" is a fine example, of a legal and military term that
> invites ambiguities
>
> In the claim afte the clash at sea, the clause has no force and  is easily
> countered by the RS, not on the facts, or on what is right, or who is right
> and who is wrong, but by force of contract and force of inflexible power of
> a powerful entity over its subordinated workers. Time, as lawyers say, is
> of the essence. Mason and his Partner  are on a schedule and must keep it
> to honor the contract. . In this case, Time, the common currency of
> Science,  is on the RS's side because the time option has an expiration
> date and the premium in the option is a multiple of the days to expiration.
>
> Though Pynchon uses the term several more times in M&D, and in other
> works, the deliberate ambiguity in its use is most apparent when we
> juxtapose the use on 47 with the use here on 202. Here, the force is
> Mason's then recent Grief, now, those who Represent his sons claim, has not
> the force it had when they agreed to take the lads two years back. In this
> case, Time is against Mason again, but the time option is reversed, so the
> longer he stays away from his boys, the less his Grief is worth. Now he
> must pay with something other than his Grief, his force majeure option is
> expired.
>
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