M&D - Chapter 17 - Maskelyne's Affairs

[Monte Davis]

JM> So why is Maskelyne spending six months in Helena...

Why is Maskelyne so prominent in the book, and why are his ambition,
eccentricity and insecurity so finely detailed? Is he doing thematic work
beyond providing a focus for M&D's anxieties about hidden agendas at the
Royal Society (and beyond that, Clive as synecdoche for empire and
capital)? Are he and Bradley Pynchonian doublings: sketches of what a more
careerist Mason might have been?

This time through I think I understand the extended prologue of the Cape
and St. Helena better than in previous readings, but I have  a nagging
sense I'm still not getting Maskelyne.

Great work, Johnny!

On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 12:47 AM, Johnny Marr <marrja at gmail.com> wrote:

> Moving from the seas (both remiscing of fishing in Wearside, and
> considering their own shipbound voyage home)  to the skies, Mason and Dixon
> gossip about Maskelyne's practises and motives. Again, there's more than an
> element of repression and avoidance in the change of subject, "They would
> rather discuss Maskelyne's Affairs, than what waits in England, in their
> own Futurity".
>
> So why is Maskelyne spending six months in Helena to observe the Star of
> Sirius, when "five minutes is more than enough for some"?
> Dixon idly speculates about "Beauties unintroduc'd ", or perhaps a drink
> problem, but acknowledges that Mason's in a better position to comment,
> having been in close quarters with Maskelyne since October.
> Characteristically high minded and prepared to think the best of people -
> and mindful of not having left Maskelyne "in the best of mental health",
> Mason suggests Maskelyne is staying in the hope of revelation similar to
> James Bradley's discovery of the Aberration, another (seemingly) chance
> discovery made when Bradley was really watching out for the Parallax of
> London's Zenith Star
>
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberration_of_light#James_Bradley.27s_observations
>
> Mason also suggests that Maskelyne may simply have amde a home for himself
> and developed something of a comfort zone in St Helena. Yet, he's also
> aware of an upcoming expedition to draw borders between Maryland and
> Pennsylvania that the Royal Academy are organising, and that Maskelyne will
> be reluctant to personally pursue - Mason expects to be used as a political
> pawn, with Maskelyne shepherding him out of sight, a rogue unstrustworthy
> talent farmed out to the Brave New World, the American wilderness. In the
> meantime Maskelyne will be able to correspond with Bradley, about landing
> the top positions with Mason out of the way.
>
> With Bradley still mistrustful of Mason, because of the connection to
> Bradley's now wife Susannah, Mason wonders how likely he is to receive the
> ppointment after all. There appears to be only one outstanding candidate to
> undertake the American study of lunars - "If you aew interested, Dixon,
> after the Work you did at the Cape, you may likely write your own Contract"
>
> In the newfound spirit of camaraderie and mutual appreciation, Dixon
> wonders whether they mightn't both be sent to America in the name of
> Science and the Crown.
>
> "I don't think so"
>
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