red herrings

[Bill Burns]

Diana writes:

>How do we know McGuffins aren't McGuffins?  It seems a tad overdetermined
>to say the quest in a quest novel isn't fundamental to the plot simply
>because it lacks conventional closure or isn't apparently grounded in any
>traditional sense. V. and Lot 49 seem to be riffs on our need to work
>towards order (obviously), so how can we say that work is tangential to
>the novel's structure or import?  

I agree with this point. Do you suppose, however, that AH was trying to make
it as well? That the *material* motivation for the quest was not as
important as the quest itself? Was the Grail really as important to
Galahad's quest as the mere fact that he pursued the Quest?

As Barth wrote (in *Chimera* was it?), "The key to the treasure IS the
treasure."

--
*Bill Burns           wdburns at micron.net*
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