Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 54: Lines 167-168 (961-962)

 "As of this moment we are all friends and brothers," Randolph supposed, "but historically any ship's armory is a free-standing volume of potential trouble—an attraction to would-be mutineers, and little else. There it sits, waiting its moment, taking up space that might, particularly on an airship, be more usefully assigned."

* * * * * * * * * *

Randolph eloquently explaining why guns are bottom-tier inventory. In this case he's speaking about ships, particularly airships, but why not extrapolate his argument to any home in America? Oh, because you want your gun? Fine, whatever. What do I care? Have fun with your free-standing volume of potential trouble, you coward.

"an attraction to would-be mutineers"
Who do you think he looked at when he delivered this line? Lindsay or Chick?

Chapter 1: Section 5: Page 37: Line 21 (603)

 "Good!" declared Chick Counterfly, "at least we won't have to get on to the Anarchist question."

* * * * * * * * * *

I don't know what "the Anarchist question" is nor why Chick brings it up. Do the Chums question every guest of the Inconvenience to make sure they're not dangerous Anarchists who might blow up the balloon (in a bad way and not in the getting it to float way)? And if so, does answering that you mostly read the sports page mean you can't be an Anarchist? That seems logical to me for some reason that I can't explain. Like I've known people who are really into sports and they just don't ever seem to be the kind of chaotic people you'd expect to be an Anarchist. Unless the sport they're into is Demolition Derby and their surname is Malachi. Then you'd better watch out!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 29: Line 69 (441)

 "Hurrah!" cried Chick Counterfly, "me and old Suckling here being starboard liberty section will just head on over to that Midway Plaisance, to have us a peep at Little Egypt and that Polynesian exhibit, and if we can fit it in, why some of those African Amazons too—oh, and don't worry, lad, anything you need explained, just ask me!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Chick Counterfly is a typical teenage boy who doesn't give a shit about arts and culture and just wants to see a bunch of women with hardly any clothes on. In the parlance of our times, Chick is horny on main.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28-29: Line 67 (439)

Chevrolette managed to mollify even Lindsay by borrowing his "skimmer" and holding it coyly in front of their faces, as if to conceal a furtive kiss, while the frolicsome Darby Suckling, without whose spirited "clowning" no group snapshot would have been complete, threatened the pair with a baseball bat and a comical expression meant to convey his ingenuous notion of jealous rage.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Chevrolette managed to mollify even Lindsay by borrowing his "skimmer" and holding it coyly in front of their faces, as if to conceal a furtive kiss"
"Well, I guess if an attractive woman is going to flirt with me, I can forget about this man selling his daughter into an almost certainly loveless future marriage with a boy I think of as a despicable and lazy human being" is something Lindsay probably thought being that it's the same thought any teenaged virgin boy would have had. An attractive woman suddenly flirting with you can make you forget even the most immediate and over-the-top human rights violations! "I can't believe those police are beating those protest . . . did Sherry just playfully touch my leg and rub her boob on my arm?!"

"the frolicsome Darby Suckling, without whose spirited "clowning" no group snapshot would have been complete"
Wait until the joy and wonder of life has been sucked completely out of Darby Suckling and we'll see how great group photographs become! We all know, especially with somebody like Lindsay hanging about sucking the joy out of everything like marrow from a bone, that Lindsay's frolicsome attitude isn't going to hold up too long into his teen years. Group photos will quickly go from everybody laughing at Darby "clowning" around to everybody looking awkward and slightly scared of the scowling teenager with the dark eyeliner, ripped jacket, fingerless leather gloves, and the uncombed jet-black dyed hair. You might be thinking, "Hey, Grunion Guy, don't you think Chick Counterfly would be a more obvious peer who will cause this turn in Darby's personality?" and I say, "Did you not grow up around adults, you traitor?!" Your peers and friends definitely have say in the things you like or the fashion you wear but they're never the ones who destroy your sense of wonder and joy for living! That's on the fucking adults in the room!

"threatened the pair with a baseball bat"
I guess Darby carries a baseball bat around with him like Harley Quinn?

Not pictured (or, you know, described) Randolph looking stupefied, Chick eyeballing Dahlia, and Miles Blundell falling on his face.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28: Lines 64-65 (436-437)

 "—I could go age fifteen, I guess," Merle went on, twinkling directly at Lindsay Noseworth strangling with indignation, "but you'd have to pay in gold, and come fetch her on your own ticket. . . . But say now would you mind if I got a snap of you all in front of this Trouvé-screw unit over here?"

* * * * * * * * * *

Oh boy! Don't I have egg all over my face! I lambasted Lindsay Noseworth for not understanding Merle's joke about getting his daughter smashed on corn liquor and here I've been bamboozled into thinking Merle was serious about selling his daughter into sex slavery! Of course he's just being crude and crass and inappropriate for the chuckles! And also to make Lindsay's head explode, something Chick Counterfly would readily assist in. Boy do I feel like an ass! Mostly because Pynchon turned me into Lindsay Noseworth! My, my, that Pynchon is a clever guy!
    But still . . . Pynchon presents the idea here because it's a thing which part of society was okay with and part of society was fighting against to make the world better for as many people as possible. Lindsay, being a lover of rules, at least seems to be a lover of rules for the betterment of society, even if he sometimes interprets "the betterment of society" in fairly shallow ways (like being against profanity). The only reason Lindsay can bristle and get angry at these comments is if this kind of attitude is fairly common among the masses. If people didn't treat their young daughters like chattel, Lindsay would quite obviously understand this as a joke. The "joke" here is less "ha ha, I'm treating my five year old girl in a wholly inappropriate and disgusting way" and more "ha ha look at that uptight jackass squirm while we say despicable things about my daughter!" Maybe some people can't appreciate the difference between those two intents. But I can!

"Trouvé-screw"
"Trouvé" is French for "found." So I don't know what this unit is supposed to look like. I guess like one of those drill units. It probably just looked like Leonardo's original design.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28: Line 63 (435)

 "Seems a little long to wait, don't it?" leered Chick Counterfly.

* * * * * * * * * *

Great! Now I have to defend a character I was really liking when he acts like a disgusting pervert! Thanks a lot, Pynchon! I suppose it's no different than in Gravity's Rainbow when you've (probably) been cheering Slothrop on in his travails and then suddenly he begins fucking Bianca. When Slothrop first sees her, she's costumed up to seem like a girl of 11 or 12 and Slothrop believes that's her age when he fucks her. So even realizing Bianca is about 17 based on other factors in the plot's timeline, Slothrop still believes she's an absolute child (as opposed to a mere child which isn't any greater defense!).

But here's the thing: I don't believe Pynchon wants a reader to defend these kinds of actions. I think Pynchon just wants to say something like, "Look. The 1940s were a fucked up time. Have you seen the way people wrote about young starlets?! It's fucking disgusting! And I'm writing Gravity's Rainbow in the late 60s/early 70s which really hasn't gotten much better about the fetishizing of child and teenaged girls. Now look at it. Feel whatever you're going to feel but there it is. It's an equivalent scene to Brigadier Pudding eating shit or Pointsman fantasizing about abusing women. What do you want? All cherry blossoms and prancing kittens?"

Also that was me defending Pynchon and not what Pynchon probably actually wanted to say. Perhaps Pynchon is a gross pervert! How am I supposed to know?! But I doubt it. Just like I doubt Vladimir Nabokov was a gross pervert for writing Lolita. But he could have been, I suppose! But it's not what I'm saying, Mr. Libel Laws!

Now in Against the Day, he's taking a moment again to portray the power dynamics in old fashioned gender roles (while also, because this book was published in 2006, commenting on the way those power dynamics have shifted (if only barely, at times!) in the modern era). Here we see that a father treats his daughter not only like property but like property whose sole purpose is to provide another man with some kind of sexual pleasure. And we have a male's response that sixteen is an awful long time to wait for this cutie. It's fucking disgusting.

Unless Chick was just commenting on how long waiting for a delivery by rail takes! Then, um, never mind!

Man, I really sound like Lindsay now, don't I?! Refusing to simply laugh at the ribald humor!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28: Lines 59-62 (431-434)

 "Admiration noted—and you might examine little Dahlia here, who's the spit of her Ma, fulminate me if she ain't, fact if you're ramblin by some ten, twelve years hence, why ride on over, have another look, make an offer, no price too small or too insulting I wouldn't consider. Or if you're willing to wait, take an option now to buy, got her on special, today and tomorrow only, dollar ninety-eight takes her away, heartbreakin smile and all. Yehp—there, lookit, just like 'at. Throw you in an extra bonnet, I'm a reasonable sort, 'n' the minute she blows that sweet-sixteenth birthday candle out, why she's on them rails, express to wherever you be."

* * * * * * * * * *

"fulminate me if she ain't"
I just profess my ire that Pynchon isn't making my brain work too hard and then he brings fulmination into the picture! Yes, yes. Merle is using it here to mean "express vehement protest" (as Lindsay did earlier. Lindsay fulminated Merle). But "fulminate" is totally a Gravity's Rainbow word. Unless it's a later Against the Day word when we get to the chapter with the explosives. Fulminate salts are friction sensitive explosives. That's probably why the word means "vehement protest." Because the person is exploding in anger. Heck, maybe Merle is actually using fulminate to mean "blow me up if I'm lying!" It's 1893! People probably expected to be blown up if they ever wronged somebody.

"if you're ramblin by some ten, twelve years hence"
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
Because I refused to purchase a five year old girl as my future bride.

"make an offer, no price too small or too insulting"
Was it okay to sell your child in the late 1800s? I suppose children were more property than autonomous beings. I'm starting to suspect that Merle really does give Dally corn liquor on a regular basis. This guy is the definition of uncouth! And also maybe the definition of sex slaver!

"the minute she blows that sweet-sixteenth birthday candle out, why she's on them rails, express to wherever you be"
This reminds me of all the weird perverts who keep track of young actresses' birthdates so they can, um, legally say the perverse things in public that they've been saying in private for way too many years. I think the poor Olsen twins suffered from this nonsense quite a bit. I only mention the Olsen twins because it seemed so egregious. "You mean you can't wait to talk about fucking the baby from Full House? What is wrong with you?" is a conversation I never had but I'm sure many friends of pervs did. I only mention that I only mention the Olsen twins because I'm sure all young female actresses have to deal with this shit.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28: Line 58 (430)

 Chick Counterfly, less affected, was alert enough to offer, "Well—an entirely admirable lady, whoever she was."

* * * * * * * * * *

When is this book going to get impossible to understand?! I just checked again and, sure enough, it says "Thomas Pynchon" on the cover! When is he going to use some highfalutin math concept that I'll never really understand to demonstrate some core principle of the hopelessness of human existence?!

Hmm, I hope you'll remember writing that bit, me, when the time comes that Pynchon finally does do that and my blog entry becomes, "What happened to the Chums of Chance and their airborne adventures around the world?! At least I could understand what was happening then!"

"less affected"
At this point, I always simply assume Chick Counterfly is less affected. By everything.

'alert enough to offer, "Well—an entirely admirable lady, whoever she was."'
Have I been socializing incorrectly my entire life? Should I be casually suggesting I fancy everybody's spouses, nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders and claiming, "If that's indeed your spouse. Whatever. So hot! I mean admirable." Then I'd wink really dramatically and pump my fist back and forth exactly three times.
    It really is the "alert enough to offer" bit that's perplexing me. Like Randolph missed the beat where he was supposed to offer a compliment because he was, once again, so terribly stupefied. How rude must people think I am after every conversation I've ever had?! And how stupefying must my expression constantly be?! I'm stupefied!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28: Lines 53-56 (425-428)

 "Makes his molly disappear down a common kitchen funnel! 'Imbottigliata!' ain't it? then he twirls his cape? Seen it down in New Orleans with my own peepers! some awesome turn, you bet!"

* * * * * * * * * *

My assumption is that an 1800s kitchen funnel isn't much bigger than a modern kitchen funnel. I'm also assuming a kitchen funnel is basically the same thing as a regular funnel except you only use it for edibles. But (and you'll understand my problem with Chick's statement after this revelation) I also assume women were the same size in the 1800s as today (or close enough to it)! Which means I'm super impressed by Zombini the Mysterious's mesmerism. Imagine convincing a woman to stuff herself into a kitchen funnel by mere words alone! What power!

'Imbottigliata!'
Italian for "bottled." Which means you'll have to disregard all that stuff I said earlier about The Great Zamboni being from Brazil. Because they don't generally speak Italian in Brazil. They speak that other language that looks like that other language and kind of sounds like those other languages. You know the one.
    As for why Zombombi the Magnificent yells "Botttled!" after convincing a woman to smash herself through a kitchen funnel, I can only guess. I suppose she winds up in a bottle which is the reason Chick thinks the illusion is "some awesome turn." Unless by "some awesome turn," Chick is complimenting the way The Powerful Zombiezie spins in his cape. But that sounds more like something Lindsay Noseworth would be impressed by. I'm surprised Chick even noticed the cape considering Zombini the Mysterious's "molly" probably performs half-naked.

"my own peepers"
Probably Chick's eyes but could also be his chicklets. You can't rule out the possibility seeing as how people call him "Chick." That's the kind of nickname you save for somebody who runs about town with his pockets full of baby chickens, or "peepers."

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 28: Line 52 (424)

 "Know him, by gosh!" Chick Counterfly, nodding vigorously.

* * * * * * * * * *

Chick, Merle just said Zombini stole his wife. Calm the fuck down with your fangasm.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 26: Line 11 (383)

 "You are an artiste, Miss McAdoo?"

* * * * * * * * * *

This is a thing writers do that I think should be done more often but constantly frustrates me: they don't attribute a line of dialogue to any speaker. Usually they do it because it should be obvious and nobody wants to read same speaking attribution over and over again. Sometimes they do it because they're Gertrude Stein and they just don't give a fuck. If I had to guess who was saying this, I'd say it was Chick Counterfly because he's the one who engaged with Merle and Chevrolette. But all the Chums of Chance are in the scene! This sounds like something Lindsay would say with a hint of disgust and judgment in his voice. Or it could be Randolph trying to change the tone a bit by lifting the discussion of Miss McAdoo's dancing from vulgar to cultural. But it's probably just Chick continuing to slather on the flattery.

"artiste"
You're an artist without an 'e' if you engage in activities that can be discussed in polite society. You're an artist with an 'e' if you're practically naked while doing your art. I'm pretty sure that's the standard definition. Comments for this post are turned off.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 26: Line 8 (380)

 "Nice put-together," Chick nodded admiringly.

* * * * * * * * * *

Chick is the only member of the Chums of Chance willing to compliment Miss McAdoo. Perhaps it's an uncouth attempt at flattery but does that matter? It's a compliment in an appropriate situation. It's brave, actually! He's putting himself out there! Is he being honest based on his previous description of Chevrolette's style of sleeves as balloons? Or is he just thinking, "This woman was running about naked so I need to get on her good side!"?

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 26: Lines 6-7 (378-379)

 Fully attired, she seemed to have just stepped out of a ladies' magazine, her ensemble this forenoon right at the vanguard of summer fashion, the current revival of the leg-of-mutton sleeve having resulted in a profusion of shirtwaists with translucent shoulders "big as balloons, all over town"—as Chick Counterfly, a devoted observer of the female form, would express it—in Miss McAdoo's case, saturated in a vivid magenta, and accompanied by a long ostrich-feather boa dyed the same shade. And her hat, roguishly atilt, egret plumes swooping each time she moved her head, would have charmed even the most zealous of conservationist bird-lovers.

* * * * * * * * * *

I'm keeping these two sentences together to keep the description of Miss McAdoo's clothing in one entry.

"Fully attired, she seemed to have just stepped out of a ladies' magazine"
The "fully attired" part means it's no ladies' magazine I've ever read!

I'm not much on discussing fashion so I don't have a lot to say here. I've given the description of Chevrolette to the Non-Certified Spouse so hopefully she'll draw her interpretation of it and I'll add it to this post as an update.

"vivid magenta"
I sort of stalled in my immediate re-reading of Gravity's Rainbow but I will get back to it soonish. I mention that here because "magenta and green" was a recurring color pattern in that novel which I have yet to get a handle on. I'm hoping I'll discover something during my second reading. I was surprised when I read "magenta" here and Pynchon didn't follow it up with some green article of clothing.

One strange aspect of Pynchon's writing is how he'll fill a description with intricate details concerning one or two aspects of the scene but then he'll leave out a whole lot more. So here we get some solid details on Miss McAdoo's sleeves and the feathers on her hat. But we don't get a description of the clothing attached to the sleeves or the hat attached to the feathers. By describing scenes this way, Pynchon asks the reader to focus on specific aspects of his story which must mean something, right?!

Why would we be asked to think about her sleeves only? I guess because they remind Chick of balloons and the Chums of Chance ride in a balloon? Maybe it's as if the women are observers floating about the city on balloon sleeves! And the feathers in the hat remind the reader of birds and birds fly! So Pynchon is removing all the detail from the woman's dress except that which reminds the reader of flight. Except for the ostrich boa which is a reminder of the exact opposite: a bird that can't fly. But even a suggestion of non-flight suggests flight in the way any mention of one thing automatically suggests the opposite.

"would have charmed even the most zealous of conservationist bird-lovers"
There's hyperbole and then there's just plain old ridiculousness, Pynchon! No wait! Hyperbole is the act of making a statement hyper-ridiculous. We understand how charming Miss McAdoo looks in her feathered hat purely because Pynchon expresses the unbelievable statement that avian conservationists would accept the destruction of birds because she wears this feathered hat so well.

I hope I used the adjective "avian" correctly in the previous paragraph because I meant to say a conservationist who was concerned with saving birds and not a conservationist who was themselves a bird.

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 24: Line 68 (353)

 "You bring a note from your parents, kid?"

* * * * * * * * * *

This must be flirting because according to nobody giving a thought to Miles and Lindsay wandering around the Fair unaccompanied, nobody in 1893 would question a young person wandering around by themselves. Unless that nobody were a cop and they saw a great chance at roughing up a kid and hauling them into jail for truancy or loitering or any other trumped up charge you can use as an excuse to bully some citizen you laughed about when you took your oath to "protect" them.

This is when the scene in reception ends. The question is left hanging because it wasn't actually meant to be answered. But it was also asked because the reader has been wondering for twenty-five pages now (and, in my case, nearly three months! I'm a slow reader!) where the parents of all of these children are (except for Chick's dad. We know all about that jerk). This is Pychon playing with us, especially after the last sentence in which he spoke of "not being unmischievous." We all want to see that note!

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 21: Line 9 (294)

 "Oh, but say," reckoned the kind-hearted Miles, "Counterfly does seem a good skate, and I bet you he'll soon get the hang of things."

* * * * * * * * * *

"the kind-hearted Miles"
Describing Miles as "kind-hearted" in his rebuttal of Lindsay's description of Chick as "depraved" makes it seem as if Lindsay has the average kindness of the average heart of an average person. As if Lindsay's portrayal of Chick as depraved is what the average person would think and the only way to view Chick as not depraved is if you happened to view the world in a more optimistic and kindly way. This does a disservice to Chick, suggesting he is exactly as Lindsay has spoken and only earnest losers who are acting out of kindness because they are "kind-hearted" can imagine Chick as anything else.
    But then, that's how the media works, right? Lindsay is a crude, self-righteous jerk and we should see him described as such when suggesting Chick is depraved. "Chick is depraved," reckoned the cold-hearted bastard piece of shit Lindsay with an axe to grind and a shiny hall monitor's badge. But instead, Lindsay's statement is just provided as fact for the masses who have no mind of their own, or an ability to accurately judge the actions and words of another monster. I mean human being.
    Now I'm angry! Lindsay has just been portrayed as simply Lindsay spouting a fact. Miles has been editorialized as "kind-hearted," suggesting his words have been polished with a veneer of polite opinion over fact.
    You know what? I'm probably reading too much into this but I can't help it. I've hated the media for most of my life and it's only gotten worse. It's simply crazy that such a large percentage of our populace thinks the media is liberal simply because they don't repeat the craziest lies and propaganda that you might find on conservative media talking head opinion shows. "Oh, how come the Mainstream Media isn't dunking on Obama and Hillary at all? It's all Fox News talks about so there must be something there! So biased!" is a thing a dumb strawman might say. Although the whole "strawman fallacy" should be tossed in the bin at this point since the quality of stupid things stupid people say has really grown past the point of parody. But thinking the media is liberal doesn't make it so, especially when the "liberal media" treats every outrageous talking point as if it's the right side's argument balancing out equally the left side's argument when the center between the two arguments is actually much closer to the left. Mainstream news hasn't been anything but the heavy kid on the right sitting on the ground on his side of an off-center teeter-totter while the kid on the left swings his legs wildly in mid-air trying to exert any influence at all on the poorly made mechanism.

"a good skate"
In the 1800s, "skate" was slang for either a despicable person or a broken down horse. I highly doubt Miles is suggesting that Chick is "a good person who deserves hatred and contempt" so he must be thinking of Chick as a broken down horse. That makes sense seeing as how he was only recently picked up, fatherless, being chased by racist hooligans to tar and feather for want of the actual person they were angry with.

"he'll soon get the hang of things"
Yeesh, Miles. Watch the language you use! At least you're not around Chick who, you know, was nearly hanged two weeks ago. Just more evidence that Miles Blundell is aptly name.

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 21: Lines 7-8 (292-293)

 "Please. Any influence Suckling could exert on a character that depraved would be negligible at best."

* * * * * * * * * *

"Please."
How long have people been saying this to express "Please do not assault me with such unsupportable and outrageous statements of this kind, statements which are so ridiculous that I cannot even fathom having to waste my time on a counter argument to them seeing as how you have put no real thought behind the formation of the statement"?
    Recently on Facebook, my friend Doom Bunny said something about how it took Coronavirus to make him realize how much he hates people and I could only respond with "Please." Because Doom Bunny makes eye contact with somebody in public and instantly has them as a contact on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Animal Crossing. Doom Bunny doesn't just to decide to love a band for its music but has to stalk them relentlessly until they're finally stuck doing their laundry at his place whenever they're in town on tour. He's never hated a person, in general, in his entire life! Heck, he almost certainly "hates" me and yet he asked me to be the best man at his wedding!
    I mean. Please.

"a character that depraved"
What proof have we seen that Chick Counterfly is wicked or morally corrupt? Basically he insults others with the same "your mom" jokes as Lindsay Noseworth except more vulgar. Calling one "depraved" is how a Lawful Evil person manages to feel self-righteous over a Chaotic Evil person. Not that I think Chick is evil! But he's definitely chaotic and Lindsay isn't having any of that crap.

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 21: Line 6 (291)

 "But Darby's there with him."

* * * * * * * * * *

Oh Miles. We all know what Lindsay's response to this is going to be! As if Lindsay has shown an ounce of respect for Darby so far. Miles would be better offer suggesting Pugnax was there to keep him in line. Besides, we all know Darby already admires Chick Counterfly. It's like how Richie Cunningham was in love with The Fonz. This kind of male love just can't be helped.

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 21: Line 5 (290)

 "I? no, not at all—beyond an unavoidable apprehension at the thought of Counterfly with full run of the ship and no one to supervise him, I am as cheerful as a finch."

* * * * * * * * * *

"thought of Counterfly with full run of the ship"
If this thought troubles Lindsay, you'd think he'd figure out a way to keep it from happening. But we all know Lindsay would rather deny Counterfly a close inspection of the Chicago World's Fair and if that means leaving him alone with the Inconvenience, then so be it. It might trouble Lindsay to think what Counterfly might be doing to the ship but the reason he claims to be "cheerful" is probably because of withholding a fun night at the fair from the rebellious lad.

"cheerful as a finch"
I learned a few years ago that I can do a pretty realistic bird song imitation. Just now, I watched a YouTube video of a finch singing and it's almost exactly the bird song I can imitate.
    I'm not sure Lindsay understands what "cheerful" actually means. He is, after all, the Spock of the Inconvenience. He probably just thinks "cheerful" means "not uncheerful" which it most definitely does not. So while he's not currently upset with somebody particularly, he simply thinks he's in a cheerful mood.
    Unless the saying "cheerful as a finch" is ironic because finches are actually mopey jerks whose song sounds happy but in reality they're dive-bombing cats and poking other birds' eyes out for their seed. That seems like Lindsay.

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 20: Lines 179-180 (284-285)

 "Nawh. Thinking about who wants that last apple fritter there."

* * * * * * * * * *

Just take it, Chick. Sheesh. Most everybody already thinks you're a Goddamned animal. Might as well act like one!

Maybe in the Victorian era, even the lowest of the low and the vulgarest of the vulgar knew better than to simply take the last piece of dessert. The only polite thing to do when only one apple fritter remains in a group of people is to let that apple fritter go to waste. Anything else is just fucking rude.

Having the willpower to forgo grabbing up that last apple fritter isn't going to change Chick's reputation overnight. Especially since Lindsay, Miles, and Randolph aren't here to witness it. But maybe it'll earn some good will with the Bindlestiffs! Besides, they brought the food so they probably expect the others to take the last bites even while the others, being the gracious hosts, are probably expecting the guests to take the final treat.

Pugnax should just come up and steal it out of the pic-a-nic basket.

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 20: Line 178 (283)

 "This making you nervous, Chick?" teased Darby.

* * * * * * * * * *

Darby thinks ghost stories are going to ruffle the nerves of a kid who was constantly chased by the Ku Klux Klan and racist Boss Hogg types while scamming Southerners with his dad. Darby was the one who was probably feeling nervous because he's just a little tyke. Maybe. Who knows how old all these "lads" are?! It's not like Pynchon has given us any solid numbers!