Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Version of Record

Publication Date

9-2003

Abstract

By drawing upon astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon for the unlikely protagonists of Mason & Dixon (1997), Thomas Pynchon develops a revisionist history of these two Englishmen as they come to terms with America in the so-called Age of Reason, which was informed by a European philosophical movement with its roots in rational discourse aimed at cultural and political intellect that eventually served as the foundation for American independence and democracy. But as Thomas Paine suggests, time wields a stronger power than does reason, and what history calls the Age of Reason may remind one of an ideal time in America when, in theory, rational discourse converted people into better citizens. However, as Mason and Dixon create their Line, recognizing that it will, in effect, divide North from South, they begin to realize that America consumes them with irrational discourse.

Publication Title

Pynchon Notes

Issue

52-53

First Page

185

Last Page

207

Pages

23

Format

application/pdf

Language

en

DOI of Published Version

10.16995/pn.59

Publisher

Open Library of Hunanities

Rights

Copyright © 2003 Jason McEntee

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