Proper naming in Pynchon

[Andrew Dinn]

Paul Mackin writes:

> Question for recent readers of VL: Was there a Zen or Bhuddist
> connection for Zoyd Wheeler's teen daughter Prairie?

> Prair(ie) Wheel(er) seems like too nice a "reconditonyn" to pass up,
> unless a context for it is totally lacking.

Well, didn't she work at the Bodhi Dharma Pizza restaurant? (he says
hoping he winged it on the spelling).

> I did remember Prairie hung out a bit with DL and Takesi, so the
> possibility of an Eastern influence seemed not out of the question.

Mention is made in the scene where Isaiah 2-4 is introduced of Zoyd's
worries as to whether Prairie is still virgin or no. I took the Virgin
Prairie to be a reference both to America's unfurrowed plains (I hate
the furrow ploughing image - it's so cheesy novel/soft-porn - but
Pynchon does insist on using it cf. Poekler jumping his daughter in
GR) with maybe an echo of the Virgin Mary.

The ploughing/seeding notion might connect with what looks a bit like
a Ceres/Persephone/Dis subplot starring Frenesi/Prairie/Brock in the
respective lead roles. This ties in with an identification I remember
reading of Blood and Vato as some kind of gatekeepers for Dis, their
driving Vond down to the underworld and Vond's return to haunt
Prairie.

> Was reminded of Prairie when a p-lister supplied the following by
> private email concerning the moms: (Wallace usage)

> Frenesi = free 'n easy?

I believe the name is taken from (a song employing) the Portuguese
word frenesi which has an accent (i.e. stress) on the final i and, I
am assured by a Brazilian friend, hints more at sexual ecstasy than
any other form of frenzy.


Andrew Dinn
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