Leadership

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

Fakhereddine Berrada proposes of Enzian:
" His position, however, is made                       
ambivalent by his complex relationship with Blicero, hence his Rilkean
name, his language, and his physical presence within the Geographic and
cultural West. But as always in Pynchon, this manifestation of a different
(countercultural) voive remains very marginal and more a promise or a
possibility than an actual presence assuming power. What do you think?"


I think this is a valid point, though it is made even more complex by
Enzian's (somewhat equivocal) charismatic status.  The sense that he is
the founding charismatic figure in what appears to be a new religion
is undercut by the Weberian need to preserve his status and image in a 
Text or otherwise.  (And then there are those dissidents among the 
Schwarzkommando!)


Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)