Since then Chick had lived from hand to mouth, until, at the town of Thick Bush, not far from the Chums' encampment, someone, recognizing him as the son of a notorious and widely sought "carpetbagger," had suggested an immediate application of tar and feathers to his person.
* * * * * * * * * *
A son paying for his father's sins. Will this be a theme too?!
Also, yes, let's giggle at the name of the town. I probably should have written a sonnet about this line since Pynchon set up the rhymes with Chick, Dick, and Thick.
Remember the Schoolhouse Rock song, "Mother Necessity"? They should have come up with another called "Mother Ennui" because what else explains how many various and disturbing ways the human race has come up with to torture people? It's not like all the ways to torture people produce different results! It's almost certainly just torturers sitting around getting bored of stretching people on a rack or pulling out fingernails. I'm sure there were a lot of "What if we . . ." situations in the torture break room.
"What about a coffin full of spikes?!"
"Or a spike that somebody sits on upon which their own weight slowly impales them?"
"What about a screw that goes on the thumb?"
"What the hell do you mean by that? How does that work?"
"I don't know! But have you ever accidentally pulled your thumb back too far while building an instrument of torture? Mother Mary of Jesus of Nazareth, does that smart!"
"Ooh! Blasphemy! Let's put him in my new contraption: the starving rat in a cage strapped to your belly!"
And then, eventually, somebody came up with tarring and feathering. Although tarring and feathering is less like a mode of torture and just some stupid immature act of vengeance on somebody who did something as minor as dumping you. It's the old timey version of pouring bleach on their clothes or keying their car. It both hurts them in some way (physically, emotionally, or financially) and it also marks them so others can witness their shame!
"Oh shit! Watch out for old Cyrus! I saw him with his head covered in chicken feathers earlier today. He must have done some negligible wrong to the wrong person or was in the wrong place at the wrong time or just happened to be of a nationality that we're sort of hating on right now! Better not associate with him unless you want more of the same!"
Ha ha! I just remembered the name of the town again!
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