Century's child raised Motherless

[David Morris]

Great post Terrance!
What follows are not disagreements, just ruminations.

>From: Thing
>
>Sidney creates a structure that imposes order on otherwise exasperatingly 
>random events, allowing some sort of response. The catch 20, 20th century 
>boy and girls,  is that it is not "real" and only permits private meanings 
>and interpretations.

Collecting information and ordering it into plausible/likely outcomes (aka 
modern prophecy, or fiction writing) is the job of a spy organization.  And 
as you say, the order thus imposed is not "real."  For what is a spy but a 
glorified (sub-rosa) tourist, right?

>Herbert's desire to discover what V. is, what is it, is his legacy from his 
>father" and it leads him to make connections that others, including the 
>narrators, even the Stencils and the readers, suspects may be spurious. 
>Stencil, then, highlights the problems inherent in discerning reality and 
>interpreting reality reliably.

Yes, especially in the upcomming "Impersonations."  He stretches this 
"reliability" problem to its limits.  Black-diamond slopes ahead!  But maybe 
the reader is meant to ingest (believe?) everything in fluxtuating degrees?  
The yes/no switch of acceptable information might rely less on a single 
pattern than on the overlay of patterns.  Moire patterns?  Slothrop's map 
comes to mind.

>Stencil embodies a search for meaning and identity which, even this early 
>in the novel, he seems to fear. Is Stencil only ostensibly seeking V. and 
>knowledge of how his father died? Will he learn the "truth" about either?  
>[...] V. may very well be his mother, a clue we can be sure he won't 
>follow. If she were his Mother he would not be he who looks or searches for 
>V. He would have to have been conditioned, say like A Slothrop. Searching 
>provides some purpose, some guide, some cord that tugs, but if it were him 
>MOM, finding her would not be a question of what now? He would fill himself 
>with human love, mother's love, and it would burst out of his heart with 
>songs and love for the world, but love has been directed entirely 
>inward,toward this acquired sense of animateness. Having found this,  he 
>finds it hard to  release, it is so dear to him. To sustain it he must hunt 
>her but not find her. For if he finds her there will be nothing but half 
>self consciousness and motherlessness for real.

I love you starting premise above:  Stencil desperately searches for meaning 
embodied (he hopes & fears) in his missing history, er, parentage.  Finding 
her might be glorious, "fill himself with human love, mother's love, and it 
would burst out of his heart with songs and love for the world."  But why 
then would finding her reduce him, as you suggest, to "half self 
consciousness?"  I would suggest that he fears Herbert's fate: finding 
it-her might also kill him.  Approach-Avoid.

>So, there is this old problem, the one almost all the major characters in 
>TRP's fiction have to confront, the Modern questers given, that Modern man 
>quests and he may even acquire some knowledge of the grail, the gods, the 
>machine, THEM, V., but communion, complete knowledge or faith brings with 
>it annihilation.

Indeed!  That's why G-D only let Moses have a side-wise glimpse at G-D's 
Big-Assed  backside as he passed out of view.  A full gander would have 
meant instant obliteration.

David Morris
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