VV(6) - Chapter Four

[jbor]

Some might argue that Esther is the focal character of the section. Note
also the guest appearances of Profane at 99.21 and at 101.14, and Stencil at
101-2. But I would suggest that this chapter is conducted entirely as third
person narration, rather than filtered through any of the characters' povs.
Schoenmaker hasn't confessed anything to Stencil about his past history and
knowledge of Godolphin (102.4); and Benny Profane, phenomenological man par
excellence, isn't self-conscious enough to engage in the sort of
rationalisation of self and society which such narrative reflection demands.

The reappearance of the word "delinquent" in the first three paragraphs
struck me.

The acronyms certainly provide a wartime flavour to the section describing
Schoenmaker's early career, the second one shows that Pynchon had certainly
researched his setting (if the description of Esther's rhinoplasty wasn't
evidence enough of this!):

TDY (98.3) - Temporary Duty

AEF (99.5 up) - Argonne Experimental Facility

CP (100.21) - Command Post

M.O. (101. 4 up) - Medical Officer

Imo that whole WWI and after bio of Schoenmaker undercuts the simplistic
animate/inanimate binary which some readers try to impose as an absolute on
this text: "If alignment with the inanimate is the mark of a Bad Guy,
Schoenmaker at least made a sympathetic beginning." (101.11) It's quite
clear that Pynchon is in the business of providing "deconstructions" of his
own text and putative themes, even at this early stage of his career.
Indeed, it is Stencil who introduces Esther to Schoenmaker (102.16). And,
the graphic description of the other patients - the "rogues gallery of
malformed" (102.21) - waiting in Schoenmaker's anteroom certainly vindicates
him and his profession (if not also Esther's vanity). The war metaphor (his
"pre-operative reconnaissance of the terrain" 103.6) emphasises
Schoenmaker's surgical diligence, and the constancy of influence of the
wartime experience with Godolphin.

The insight Schoenmaker is given at 103.25 seems to have a bearing on the
binary thing, too. The way Esther interprets it is as an either/or
opposition: (Anglo-Celtic) retroussé/ (Jewish) hook is anthema to the good
doctor. Schoenmaker's private thesis isn't that far from Pynchon's own imo:

     ... correction--along all dimensions: social, political, emotional--
     entails retreat to a diametric opposite rather than any reasonable
     search for a golden mean. (103.25)

His wry rationalisation about "cultural harmony" (103.bottom) justifies the
vanity-pandering aspect of his profession; the other side of it, that
"rogue's gallery of malformed" we saw in the waiting room, certainly redeems
his integrity somewhat (and I don't imagine that these customers fill his
purse, either).

best


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>From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at hotmail.com>
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: VV(6) - Chapter Four
>Date: Fri, Dec 15, 2000, 12:18 PM
>

>
> Schoenmaker is the central character of Chapter Four just as Stencil is of
> Chapter Three.  Both chapters begin with an introduction and then a series
> of numbered sub-sections.  Each of these focus on a "development" of the
> main character.
>
> Esther provides us with the introduction: "I'm late," with a perhaps implied
> sub-introductory plea: "Fix it."
>
> I:  Schoenmaker goes to The War.  He becomes a mechanic.  He fixes things.
> He loves Godolphin, and then hates Halidom.  His love for the damaged
> Godolphin and his hate for the butchery of Halidom move him to become a
> mechanic of the human face (this includes other parts, but only
> cosmetically).
>
> But Schoenmaker experiences a "decay of purpose."  His initial love and hate
> must fade.  They (love & hate) must of necessity be augmented in the cause
> of "purpose" by another means:  the "idea" of purpose.
>