Slothrop's Stutter

[LARSSON at vax1.mankato.msus.edu]

R. Muller asks:
"I have a question. I'm mid-way through Gravity's Rainbow, and I think
I'm going to make it this time. One of the things that I've been
curious about is why Slothrop says "a-and" all of the time. Does he
stutter, perhaps when he's nervous (he seems to say "a-and" rather
than "and" at stressful times) or am I missing something? "

I think stress/excitement probably indicates the reason, but I also like
to think that it mimics Jimmy Stewart's speech patterns.

--Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN