Libel (was Re: just for fun Re: pynchon-l-digest V2 #1452

[Dedalus]

jbor writes:
Hiroshima, the decimation of the Hereros, and the extermination of the
dodoes (which are
depicted in GR), and the Jewish genocide, Stalinist purges or massacres
of
Nth Amerindians (which are not depicted) are not part of "the
Holocaust."

 . . . But wouldn't the Hereros and the dodoes function, from a literary
standpoint, as examples of an extermination and/or annihilation motif in
GR that, for all practical purposes, is suggestive of  historical
organized extermination LIKE the Holocaust?

I agree that the Holocaust is not the "center" of GR, but there are
enough examples of *systematic annihilation* throughout the text to
suggest that the Holocaust can be an implied example (if, at least,
because of the time period of the novel).

Besides, GR is sooo filled with ambiguities that to include "The
Holocaust" in a any prominent way would have made readers (then AND
today) "take sides" too easily regarding what the author was trying to
say regarding control, paranoia, human relationships, etc.  The
Holocaust is way too obvious a black & white topic to serve Pynchon's
more subtle needs as the author of a text steeped in ambiguity. Too
touchy, too real, and too obviously prejudicial a topic, or as nohed36
pointed out earlier today in a post:

The room went quiet, and someone started talking  about web design.  An
old pal pulled me aside.  "You know, it's kind of a  common knowldge
rule, as soon as anyone brings up the nazis or the holocaust  or any of
that crap, the conversation has just been killed.  No one wants to hear
it.  Just thought I'd let you know."

Yet, in a text that demonstrates systematic extermination as it does,
the Holocaust IS there --- if perhaps only by implication.

Dedalus