Will's Students - Adam - Vollmann's The Blue Wallet

[A. Rick]

Vaska-	
	Gee, larger social tensions and metaphors. I really think this story
emphasizes the necessity of the tension between Marisa and Jenny. (See my
recent response on Pynchon-l to Ray Gonne for a bit more on that.) One of
the primary themes in America is its diversity; this idea of the American
"melting pot" has been examined multiple times in humanities this year.
Vollmann's story indicates, however, that America's diversity does not form
a melting pot, but more of a chunky stew--perhaps with white broth. The
ingredients of this stew do not want to mix together--they are
(pre)destined to hate each other.
	Bill tries not to pick between these two ingredients, but their flavors
clash so fiercely that I don't think he can handle both of them for too
much longer. (Okay, enough w/ that soup metaphor.) If a member of the white
(and apparently neutral, if represented by Bill) majority befriends two
members of different American subcultures, how likely is it that they won't
get along? Will this "Bill" be able to be friends with both of them, or are
they so different that conflict would be unavoidable? Maybe America's
diversity is a negative characteristic, contributing more to factionism and
hatred than to cultural enrichment. At least, this interpretation is
reasonable from reading "The Blue Wallet".
	I agree that Bill's "centrality ... is more than incidental...." This IS a
selection from The Rainbow Stories, titled so to allude to the many
different colors (subcultures) in America. Like in a rainbow, the elements
of this story are eternally segregated, perhaps only agreeing on the vast
expanse of blue sky which surrounds them. Read into that as you may, but
keep in mind that these are the ideas which I think emanate from TBW, and
not necessarily ideas of my own.

Thanks very much for your reply. I hope you have already gotten your hands
on some Vollmann, including this story. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and
am glad that I could convey its worth to you and other "Pynchoniacs," as
Will calls you.
Thanks again for your interest and support of this ambitious Literature
class project.

Adam Rick