GRGR(12)Mystery of Imipolex G

[Terrance F. Flaherty]

The Mystery of Imipolex G

"Imipolex G has proved to be nothing more-or less-sinister
than a new plastic, an aromatic heterocyclic polymer,
developed in 1939, years before its time, by one L. Jamf for
IG Farben." Gr.249

Nothing more or less? Befor its time? Jamf? 

In Appendix III of his reader's guide to GR, Fowler proposes
the following "rule of thumb,"  "[when] reading Pynchon,
when chronology (or convention, or common sense) clashes
with poetic resonance, set aside chronology (or convention,
or common sense)." 

This I understand, is Fowler's "rule of thumb" for
understanding the many apparent problems, inconsistencies,
and anachronisms that for example, Weinenburger's Companion
is often unable to account for without making the absurd
claim that
either Mr. Pynchon can not count from one to seven (there
are for example, numerous apparent errors in chronology
surrounding R&J
and Christmas) or is, on the one hand, as meticulous as Mr.
Joyce with dates and details, but on the other hand, somehow
careless with the obvious need to be faithful to his own
fictional structure and its particulars. Weisenburger
discovered that the shape of GR is circular: "a mandala, its
four quadrants marked by crucial dates on the Christian
liturgical calendar" and he identifies its design precursors
as Joyce's Ulysses and Melville's great satire The
Confidence Man. He notes that like Melville, Pynchon sets
the decisive action of his book, the firing of the rocket
00000, on Easter/April Fool's. He claims that "As in the
Confidence Man, this one detail hopelessly equivocates any
theme of salvation." This is one reason I believe Melville's
The Confidence Man, a Menippean Satire, so important to GR.
For example, the symbol of salvation in Melville's Moby
Dick--the coffin-- become a chamber pot at the end of
Confidence Man. April Fools, dear reader. So Imipolex G
seems to be another example of Pynchon's problem with his
own text, but is it?  Both the Companion and the Guide are
invaluable, but I think that both ultimately find fault with
the author, and although I doubt Pynchon's infallibility, I
think it best to give the author the benefit of the doubt
and search for an alternative explanation for these apparent
problems.  What's the problem with Pynchon's Imipolex G ?

Back around 1920, Dr. Laszlo Jamf opined
.Infant Albert into
a reflex horror of everything furry
. Jamf, for his target
reflex, chose an infant hardon.  (Jamf, Kekule, Pavlov,
Watson, Larson-Keeler)

Unconditioned stimulus = stroking penis with antiseptic
cotton swab. 
Unconditioned response = hardon.
Conditioned stimulus = x.
Conditioned response = hardon whenever x is present,
stroking is no longer necessary, all you need is that x.
Uh, x? well, what's x? Why, ist's the famous "Mysterious
Stimulus" that's fascinated generations of
behavioral-psychology students, is what it is. 

And a mystery is what it shall remain and this seems to be
what Pynchon wants it to remain for readers and characters
alike. If Pynchon is making errors, he has been at it from
the beginning. Tracing down every name, date and locality in
Pynchon's "The Secret Integration," I found that he will not
permit a simple jig-saw solution to the connections the
narrators infer and characters attempt to understand. The
coffin becomes a chamber pot. The dates are not confused
because Pynchon can't count, the allusions are multiple and
seem at odds with one another because this is the way
Pynchon writes. Pynchon is sometimes very specific and
accurate, but at other times very vague or deliberately
misleads the reader. More importantly, much of the
information is what Pynchon terms "junk-shop" and is
gathered from the dreams, hallucinations, drug induced, or
illness induced states of mind. 

So 1920, when Slothrop is conditioned is too early for
Imipolex G to exist, only the 00000 Schwarzgerat V-2 carries
the Imipolex device, so why does Slothrop react to other
V-2s?, Jamf may never have existed?, Imipolex is both black
and white? and we are reminded by Pointsman's italics,
of "a silent extinction beyond the zero," another mystery.
You want cause and effect. Imipolex G, is a mystery.  
"Surprised?"