The Real V?

[LARSSON at vax1.mankato.msus.edu]

Bonnie writes:
"If you look more carefully, you'll find that V is quite real, thorughout
the novel.  I  do believe that you will find her in the confessions as
well as in every other section.  Arturo mentioned the novel's intriguing
construction, multi-layered.  It is this construction that reveals Her
throughout;  we see her in various iterations.  Finally, she is sad;  as
a lone villian such as Dracula, Frankenstein--with her own Igor in
Godolphin.  Interesting note--Disney (?) film "Bluebeard's Ghost",  with
Peter Ustinov and Dean Jones--the old wreck of a home wherein the secret
to the treasure can allegedly be found--it's on Godolphin road.  Just an
observation.  But if you've seent the film, you might notice how readily
an association with Pynchon is made.  More later."

Yes, V. is throughout the novel, but always filtered in some way through
Stencil.  For example, Stencil meets Mondaugen in Chap. 8 and we get
"Mondaugen's Story" in Chap. 9 but as Eigenvalue observes, " . . . 
when Stencil retold it, the yarn had undergone considerable change: had
become, as Eigenvalue put it, Stencilized."

Even in the Confessions of Fausto Maijstral, it is not clear if a) Fausto
was sane or hallucinating, b) if the Bad Priest is really V.  See Chap.
16 and Stencil's interview with Fausto, where the latter casts doubt on
everything he wrote and Stencil suspects that it's all just coincidence.

The question then is what it means to say it's coincidence.  This reversal
between a certain and deadly meaning and uncertain anarchy haunts American
literature.  The whale in MOBY DIC, for example, could mean a lot of things
--or it could just be a whale.

I think the point in V. is what she represents to *Stencil* and how he's
used her to dodge any real engagement with life.  On the other hand,
the Tristero and the Rocket both have far more tangibility (I think!).

--Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN