M & D Read. Chap 29 cont. Misc.

[Joseph Tracy]

"Benjamin Franklin was surrounded by spies while he lived in England.  He lived at Franklin House in London from 1757 to 1775 while he was ambassador and the British were always hoping to find out information about the colonies while visiting him.” from web page about 18th C spying
Interestingly, Franklin is leading the electrical danse macabre at the end of the chapter.  

In my mind the whole chapter is foreshadowing of the fact that the M&D line is a deeply flawed idea and will lead to bad shit. War is brewing, lines are being drawn, and Mason’s paranoia is Pynchon’s way of saying people rarely do what they do without warning, knowledge, personal and social indications if it is shady.  Mason, like most of us, is portrayed  on every level as a not entirely innocent innocent.

There is a definite flavor of antinomianism with Mason( not so much personal as part of the culture) that is contrasted more directly in the next chapter with Quaker( Dixon) rejection of that aspect of hierarchical religious forms. As participant in a Friends meeting and reader of Friends history, this  topic is coming more to the foreground in this read.  
> On Apr 26, 2018, at 3:57 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> p 290....we have the paving stones...
> 
> p290--291...'they are directing, nowhere but into his own eyes, stares
> unbearable with meaning he cannot fathom"
> 
> 
> p 291...to sharpen toward Revelation.
> 
>     *the same look, ...*as if deliberately  to recall the other night
> *......*Has he been under Surveillance..?
> 
> is this paranoia from an unreliable character (on this subject)...or real?
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l