Learned English Dog

[Matt Treyvaud]

On Sat, 12 Dec 1998, Beefy P wrote:

> What is the signicance of LED in relation to the overall themes of the
> novel?  Specifically, Pynchon's focus on the corruption and dissolution of
> the American Dream?  

the LED confuses me too, but it's one of my favourite parts of the book so
i have a lot of confused thoughts to share. behold:

- as he says, there's no room for talking dogs in the Age of Reason. yet,
he is a dog who talks. in this way, he's like a living version of the koan
he mentions ('has a dog buddha-mind?') which has no answers, or many,
depending on which zen master you consult. the point is that the answer
cannot be expressed using normal language + logic.  koans serve the
function of illuminating students and helping them find their zen. the dog
helps them find the seeress, but also dances and sings.  if you want to
correlate that with the dissolution of the american dream, maybe you could
link it to america's (= australia's, = the world's) shift towards the
gaudy at the expense of the meaningful? especially politically. 

- i also find it quite funny that despite the fact that, given the rules
of the Age of Reason, Fang cannot exist, he still claims the rights and
freedoms the AoR accords all (in theory) sentient beings.

- he also claims that he is the logical progression of the method by which
dogs became accepted by humans: accepting their social rules. this vaguely
reminds me of the nature vs. technology feel in GR, except here nature is
selling itself out (is speech a technology?). this bit also reminds me of
a passage from robert anton wilson's "Schroedinger's Cat":

 "The dogs had learned to achieve a rough simulation of _guilt_ and
 _remorse_ and _worry_ and other domesticated primate characteristics. The
 domesticated primates had learned how to achieve simulations of _loyalty_
 and _dignity_ and _cheerfulness_ and other canine characteristics. The
 primates claimed that they loved the dogs as much as the dogs loved them.
 Still, the primates kept the best food for themselves. The dogs noticed
 this, you can be sure, but they loved the primates so much that they
 forgave them."

> What is the significance of his return at the end of
> the novel?  Is it really him?  Can someone please help?

don't have anything even slightly constructive to say here. i would like
to ask if anyone can suggest a Deeper Meaning for "The L.E.D. blinks"
(22.4). is it just a pun for the sake of it? (an LED is a light-emitting
diode, and last i knew LEDs were used for almost all applications
requiring little things to light up - modem displays, digital clocks - so 
they do a lot of blinking)

matt

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 Matt Treyvaud, Abbr. Prim.                       (R.I.P. Kerry Thornley)
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