GRGR (15): Good & Evil (was Enzian...)

[rj]

Tim Thomas:
> In GR (and V) the Herero dont simply
> function as an example of the evils of colonialism, instead the whole
> dynamic is set up to explore the relationship between dominators and the
> dominated. The whole S/M B/D thing keeps cropping up - between various
> characters, and between whole groups of people, Germans-Herero, Nazis-Jews,
> etc. Why? Is it the 'conditioning' theme again? Is it an exploration of
> power dynamics? Is it a way of looking at the circumstances in which the
> beliefs of people (morals) shift or are abandoned or become irrelevant? Is
> Pynchon just making our stereotypical idea of Evil (the cartoon Marvy) more
> ambiguous?


Good questions. And don't forget that Slothropite ancestor leading those
pigs to their doom. A moral conflict plays out in his mind, too.

best