VLVL(6) the Movement WAS Re: Absences in VL

[Paul Mackin]

On Sat, 5 Dec 1998 BekkerA at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 12/4/98 5:40:34 PM, millison at online-journalist.com wrote:
> 
> >But, following David's thoughtful post, I'll add that in the end the
> >anti-Vietnam War movement in the U.S. was in perhaps the most important way
> >successful:  without the steadily escalating protest, the
> >military-industrial cartels and their puppet politicians could have kept
> >the war going far longer --  the protests forced the issue and helped end
> >the war.  And it wasn't all fun and games for the protesters, either
> >(although there was certainly fun and games associted with the movement) --
> >too many killed, clubbed, gassed, jailed.
> 
> Not only that but far more than college rebels and activists got involved.
> (This might be why it was successful.)  In San Francisco at the marches in and
> around Golden Gate Park many groups had signs reading "Grandma's against the
> War," "Unionists against the War," "Gays against the War" and so on. The dress
> of these groups was in line with their signs. Their were old, young, middle
> aged, long-hairs, short-hairs, dowdy dressers and freaks. The anti-war effort
> united a lot of divergent groups and individuals.

Bekker's addendum is important. However the thing that really needs to be
stressed is the timing. The student protests were in motion early--before
American boys started being killed at the rate of hundreds a week. They
were a nuisance but didn't constitute enough pressure to end the war. It
wasn't until the pain hit home that the respectible people started joining
the students and hippies. At least this is the way I remember it. I was
working at a super liberal think tank and before, say, around '68 I was
the only staff member against. A short time later everyone was against.

> 
> It seems to me that VL traces the lives of those peripherally attached to the
> anti-war movement via the drug/hippie scene rather than the anti-war thing
> itself. Some of them simply got off the train then and never got back. The
> world went on but they didn't.  As David said, "sad."
> 
Pynchon probably reasoned that he'd have to pretty well abstract the 60s
from the Vietnam War in order not to swamp the rest of the action in VL.
Sort of like he did by ignoring the Holocaust and the real WW II--a
dangerous and bloody conflict--from GR. Artistic perogotive.

Interesting question: Could there have been a 60s--a 60s as we know 
it--without Vietnam?

				P.