Analysis of Mason & Dixon, Part 2 - Chapter 39: Last Night at the Inn, Dixon Goes South, Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson, Fighting for Urania, Back North, Blindness
Superb breakdown of Dixon's willful blindness. The point about slavery being rendered invisble through normalization is sharp, and it applies way beyond just reading Pynchon. I had a similiar moment in grad school analyzing Faulkner where I realized most characters were deliberately not seeing the structures right infront of them. The analysis of how Jefferson co-opts "pursuit of happiness" while enslaving people cuts deep.
Great writeup as always. I may be misreading you, but I believe Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederacy and not Thomas Jefferson. Both big fans of slavery though!
Lord what a inaccuracy that was! Definitely would have supported it and definitely a fan of slavery. But I must have been in a daze while typing that lol. Thanks for pointing that out.
Superb breakdown of Dixon's willful blindness. The point about slavery being rendered invisble through normalization is sharp, and it applies way beyond just reading Pynchon. I had a similiar moment in grad school analyzing Faulkner where I realized most characters were deliberately not seeing the structures right infront of them. The analysis of how Jefferson co-opts "pursuit of happiness" while enslaving people cuts deep.
Thank you! Big Faulkner fan as well. Absalom is one of my favorites of all time.
Great writeup as always. I may be misreading you, but I believe Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederacy and not Thomas Jefferson. Both big fans of slavery though!
Lord what a inaccuracy that was! Definitely would have supported it and definitely a fan of slavery. But I must have been in a daze while typing that lol. Thanks for pointing that out.