Saved?

[Greg Montalbano]

On Tue, 30 Jul 1996 11:50 EST you said:
>" How are THEY supposed to control a
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>population that knows it'll never die?  When that was always THEIR last
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>big chip, when THEY thought THEY had the power of life & death."
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>I think we should realize first who is the speaker of these quotes (Zoyd?
>Mucho? I don't remember) and second what the hell does a "population that
> knows it'll never die" actually mean now?  Is TRP just giving further
>evidence of these boys refusal to grow up, nostaligic for their
>acid-inspired years, so much rambling crud for us living in the bleak
>80's.  or lamenting for his past gone by?
>
>In my garbage head days, hey I knew that feeling but it's gone now.  What
>is the dividing line between childhood and adult-dom:  "the recognition
>of death".  What is the dividing line b/w adultdom and wisdom:  "the
>acceptance of death".
>
>Curious as to whether TRP will have much mention of drugs in the next
>opus?
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>
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>Richard Romeo
>
>Coordinator of Cooperating Collections
>
>The Foundation Center-NYC
>
>212-807-2417
>
>rromeo at fdncenter.org
>
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I'm sorry, I thought the larger implications of that quote spoke for themselves
-- I guess I'll have to elaborate.
Yes, the speaker was Zoyd -- but Zoyd is more than just a "garbagehead", more
than just a lost boy.
Yes, adulthood could be defined as "accepting death";  but that's NOT the kind
of attitude THEY are pushing on the populace.  THEY are hawking death as some-
thing to be feared and hated, something that WE can't control, but THEY can
meet out if WE don't stay in line:
The church -- you will die the TRUE DEATH if you don't follow us;
The state -- you will be a victim of those commie dogs/capitalist pigs/fill
            in the blank/ if you don't follow us;
The insurance companies -- you will DIE & your family will STARVE if you don't
                 pay us money & keep paying for the rest of your life
The police -- once you get in our files, you'll NEVER get loose.

I've always read Pynchon's THEY as THE ENEMY -- and what better definition of
the enemy can you have than someone who's trying to control your life through
hatred and fear of death?
I think in reading VINELAND it's important to get past the "drugs & lost boys"
aspect of the story -- as in ALL of TRP's novels, these things represent/are
metaphors for a good deal more than just themselves.