Chums of Chance
Young mens' organization. The Charter of the Chums of Chance includes a paraphrase of Star Trek's "Prime Directive" not to violate the rules of a local culture. The initial appearance of the Chums in ATD, in the sky aboard a hydrogen balloon, may recall the appearance of the three Knaben in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.
To be chummy with chance might mean lucky, fond of gambling, fond of chaos, irrational, or anarchist. Or maybe they became chums by accident. The "chance" may also be that of the winds that carry them in directions not always intended.
- The American philospher Charles Sanders Peirce, who set down his most important ideas in the late 1800's, argued that 'Chance' was a feature of the universe that can refute all determinisms.
A-and, we know from Slow Learner that Pynchon was taken with the Surrealists early, while his vision was firming. The Surrealists had a slogan: "the certainty of chance".
Cameraderie and isolation are two recurring topics in Pynchon's works. The Chums are a band of heroes like those commonly featured in the 19th century boys' fiction that Pynchon evokes, but also recall Pynchon's high school fictions, Voice of the Hamster and The Boys, in which the teenage Pynchon lovingly portrayed his group of high school chums, known as, simply, "The Boys."
The Chums are reminiscent of two comics of the early 20th century, Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Windsor McCay, and The Explorigator, by Harry Grant Dart. "The Explorigator" was the name of a fantastic airship that traversed the universe. It was manned by Admiral Fudge, a youthful adventurer and inventor, accompanied by a group of friends, also children his age (around nine or ten): Detective Rubbersole, Maurice Mizzentop, Nicholas Nohooks, Grenadier Shift, Teddy Typewriter, and Ah Fergetitt. The Explorigator ran for 14 weeks in 1908 and made an impression for its imaginative and visual creativity. More on The Explorigator [1]
The names of the Chums may also be derived from famous Jazz musicians: Miles (Davis), Chick (Corea), Darby (Hicks), (Boots) Randolph, and (Vachel) Lindsay (a stretch here?), notes the Chumps of Choice blog.
The creativity of Pynchon's naming of the Chums, as other characters, shows yet again his Dickensian influence.
Note that there's five Chums, the number of chapters of the book (a-and the number of letters in "Chums"!).
- The Chums of Chance -- "a five-lad crew" (3) consisting of:
- Randolph St. Cosmo, "the ship commander" (3)
- Darby Suckling, "the 'baby' of the crew" (3)
- Lindsay Noseworth, "second in command here and known for his impatience with all manifestations of the slack" (4)
- Miles Blundell, "Handyman Apprentice" (4)
- Chick Counterfly, "the newest member of the crew" (4), "son of a notorious and widely sought 'carpetbagger'" (8)
- Pugnax, "a dog of no particular breed" (5)
