Pointsman's Fear

[Adam J. Thornton]

> Isn't Marvy pretty low on Their totem pole?  I don't think Pynch takes 
> anything about Marvy seriously, as he does Weissman and Pointsman.  Marvy 
> is a bufoon and a puppet, a true cartoon;  a low-level thug, all brawn, 
> no brains.

Not quite.

There's one really interesting thing about Marvy.  He can only recognize
people from their insignia and uniforms.  When Slothrop is wearing his Ian
Scuffling garb he's "that Limey bastard."  When he is wearing his
de-insigniaed Russian uniform, he's "comrade."

And it is significant that Major Duane Marvy's downfall comes because he is
caught by those, like him, who can only see uniforms.  Marvy ditches his
own uniform because of the cocaine into it, and slides on into the
Plechazunga costume.  And in so doing, he is captured and emasculated
because his captors never check on the identity of the Man Behind The Pig.

Adam
-- 
"I'd buy me a used car lot, and | adam at princeton.edu | As B/4 | Save the choad!
I'd never sell any of 'em, just | "Skippy, you little fool, you are off on an-
drive me a different car every day | other of your senseless and retrograde
depending on how I feel.":Tom Waits| little journeys.": Thomas Pynchon | 64,928