V. discussed!

[eaeg at unity.ncsu.edu]

Hi all,


>     1. Chapter 1.  The paragraph which begins "Since his discharge from 
>     the Navy Profane had been road-laboring and when there wasn't work 
>     just traveling, up and down the east coast like a yo-yo..."  (Harper 
>     Perennial paperback, p. 10)  What visions does this paragraph conjure? 
>     A-and--why is it dark in the east and why are there no more bars? 

Just a quickie--this is a reversal of _Moby Dick_, and it's good to invoke 
MD when you attempt a largescale American novel.  It shows you're 
serious.  Ishmael gets restless on land and goes to work on the sea; 
Profane leaves the sea and hits the road, traveling, working. 

Is V. the postmodern white whale?
          
--Eyal