MDMD[5]: B.H. of C.

[barleydog at earthlink.net]

Eric Weinstein asks:
        "And how much do we know of the tragic history of, and following the
Black Hole of Calcutta."
        It strikes me that the Black Hole of Calcutta is a very important
nexus between several different threads that are running through this book.
As I have mentioned earlier Black Hole carries both 18th and 20th century
connotations.  Pynchon even admits that it's
        "some Zero-Point of history, reckoning whence, all the Marvels to
follow,-Quebec, Dr. Halley's Comet, the Battle of Quiberon Bay, aye and the
Transit of Venus, too,-would elapse as fugitive as Opium dreams, and
mattering less. . ." (p. 152)

My Random House Unabridged describes it as an historical fact:

"a small prison cell in Fort William, Calcutta, in which, in 1756, Indians
are said to have imprisoned 146 Europeans, only 23 of whom were alive the
following morning."

 Now, I'm not an astronomer, but my understanding of Black Holes is that
they are some kind of juncture of space and time.  They exert an incredible
gravitational pull that sucks everything to a singularity.  What's the
difference between a "zero point" and a "singularity?"  Pynchon is pointing
to an experience and a metaphor of _density_.  Again Pynchon is playing with
time, with unmistakable echoes of G.'s Rainbow.  Tangential question:  what
do  modern theories about space and time do to the notion of Being?  I'm not
a philosopher either, but I'm bright enough to know I'm in _way_ over my head.

He's also making a social or political commentary on imperialism and racist
double-standards.   Perhaps I read too much into the fact that in the
re-creation of the B.H. slaves (presumably black) are added to the white
fetishists to make a specific  critical mass of flesh/misery/ecstasy.  Is
this a metaphor for the South: its humidity (?), its intermingling of blacks
and whites in close quarters (?).  

Black Hole can also be read as a sexual orifice (take your pick, to each
their own).  Which is supported by the eroticism of the scene.  In which
case, what (if any)  is the end result of the copulation?

It also says something about Pynchon's view of history as a mass of writhing
individuals experiencing their own intense suffering and/or pleasure, but
their combined exertions lead to "some single slow warm Explosion."  A Big
Bang, or some kind of social orgasm.  Is this related to the organisms in
bread?  The event, at least to the Company, is so important, that all else
pales in comparison.  Could we call it "super history" as opposed to St.
Helena's "sub history (p. 162)?

All this and a Disney movie too (wink, wink)!

                                                David Braden

P.S. Apologies in advance for any typos or poor grammar.  I've been busy in
the last few days helping give birth to my first daughter, Emma Agnes
Braden. (No reply necessary, just a quiet thought if you feel so compelled).