GRGR(4) 61.24 Ascent and Sacrifice

[s~Z]

'The day of Ascent and sacrifice' got me thinking about Abraham
ascending Moriah to sacrifice Isaac, but I figured it would be more true
to the text to tie it in with Gottfried's ultimate ride. When turning to
the end of the book to check out that imagery I'll be damned if there
isn't a section on Isaac at the bottom of page 749 which directly
connects the ascent and sacrifice of Isaac with Gottfried. And, it all
fits nicely with Slothrop's toiletrip:  'There is an Aggadic tradition
from around the 4th century that Isaac, at the moment Abraham was about
to sacrifice him on Moriah, saw the antechambers of the Throne. For the
working mystic, having the vision and passing through the chambers one
by one, is terrible and complex.' Perhaps the novel's opening dream and
Slothrop's scatological reverie are two such pre-sacrificial visions. No
substitutionary animal in Pynchworld though. The Kid doesn't show. Let
the blade fall.