M & D deep duck: section 4 -- orders not to sail. Puzzled.

[kelber at mindspring.com]

This whole sub-section, from p. 31 ["He wants whah'?"] to p. 34 ["Perhaps there is?" he suggests, as gently as possible.] is rife with conjecture and unreliable narration. Cherrycoke recounts or conjectures about Mason's conjectures about what went on at a meeting at which he was not present. Various names are referenced: Mead, White, Stephens, Lord Anson [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Anson,_1st_Baron_Anson], adding up to a "Them," maybe? The sequence sets up a backdrop for the paranoia that consumes M and D after the attack. Meetings are being held, letters sent, by persons they have no contact with. What other decisions are being made by unseen parties?

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>Sent: Jan 24, 2015 9:48 AM
>To: James Robertson <james at themutedposthorn.com>
>Cc: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: M & D deep duck: section 4 -- orders not to sail. Puzzled.
>
>Before this analysis, I simply assumed the orders had come somewhere
>in the spaces of the text.
>Now, I am inevitably reminded of the Orders to the Chums, of They, etc.
>
>The happy Captain is in the pocket of the Royal Society.
>
>p.41 "They knew the French had Bencoolen,---what else did they know?
>Thah's what I'd like to know"---[Dixon]
>
>On Fri, Jan 23, 2015 at 7:49 PM, James Robertson
><james at themutedposthorn.com> wrote:
>> I am a little puzzled by this passage:
>>
>> On the eighth of December the Captain has an Express from the Admiralty,
>> ordering him not to sail. "Furthermore," he informs Mason & Dixon,
>> "Bencoolen is in the hands of the French. I see no mention of any plans to
>> re-take the place soon. I am sorry."
>>
>> "I knew it...?" Dixon walking away shaking his head.
>>
>> "We may still make the Cape of Good Hope in time," says Capt. Smith "That'll
>> likely be our destination, if and when they cut the orders."
>>
>>
>> Without any further explanation the Seahorse proceeds down the Channel
>> towards its bloody encounter with the l'Grand. But why? Captain Smith has
>> orders from the Admiralty, which is responsible for command of the Navy, not
>> to set sail. And as we have seen in the proceeding matter of the hundred
>> pounds for expenses the Captain has "no wish to offend" "the Great
>> Circumnavigator" George Anson, the then First Lord of the Admiralty.
>>
>> Does this mean the orders not to sail should be read as "do not sail to
>> Bencoolen"? This makes sense as it has been taken by the French, but
>> "furthermore" suggests Bencoolen is an additional reason not to sail not the
>> primary one. Is the Admiralty aware of the danger posed by the L'Grand?
>>
>> Who is the "they" Captain Smith is referring to when he talks about cutting
>> orders? If it's the Admiralty, then why would they order the captain not to
>> sail and then not cut orders. Surely the two are one and the same. If it is
>> the Royal Society then this raises other questions.
>>
>> Judging by the threatning letter the Royal Society send Mason and Dixon in
>> reply to their letter from Plymouth, it is they whom the captain is
>> referring to. So why then would he follow their orders over those of the
>> Admiralty not to sail?
>>
>> "Happen," Dixon contributes in turn, "we were never meant at all to go to
>> Bencoolen,-- someone needed a couple of Martyrs, and we inconviently
>> surviv'd?"
>>
>> Dixon's suspicions about the motives of the Society (on page 44) offer
>> another glimpse of an explanation hinted at by captain Smith earlier. That
>> Mason & Dixon are not the only ones sent out to observe the Transit of
>> Venus.
>>
>> "No one else is going there to observe," Mason "Odd, isn't it? You think
>> there'd be a Team from somewhere."
>>
>> Capt. Smith look away, as if embarrass'd. "Perhaps there is?" he suggests,
>> as gently as possible.
>>
>> Of course this suggestion is absolutely correct, Maskelyne has also been
>> sent out by the Society to observe the Transit from St. Helena. But it is
>> his mission that fails not theirs. Why the captain should know about this,
>> almost to the point of embarrsement, is unclear. But certainly Mason & Dixon
>> are being kept in the dark.
>>
>> --
>> James J. Robertson
>> @jamesjrobertson
>> james at themutedposthorn.com
>> themutedposthorn.com
>>
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