Source of Pirate's Dream (WAS: Chasing...Cutting)

[kevin at limits.org]

On Thu, 31 Aug 2000, Mark wrote:
> I don't think I was clear enough in my posts: I think this is pretty
> clearly a dream sequence in which both British and German material is
> all mixed together.  Pirate is Britsh and so brings half to the table.
> There is no clear source for the German material IMO. 
> 
I agree that the dream mixes British and Continental imagery, but I'm not
sure if it's really necessary to look for a source of the "German
material."  Pirate is not the average Brit (or even what passes for
"average" in a Pynchon novel), he's in the SOE and, as we find out later,
in communication with Katje.  IIRC, he's also hanging around PISCES during
a few of the seance scenes.  To me, it seems plausible that the "Ss" of
the dream (and all that they imply) could simply be the product of his own
imagination, rather than "borrowed" (by Pirate) or "channeled" (by the
Firm into Pirate).  But yes, as you say, there is no "clear source" -- nor
need there be.

One thing I love about Pynchon is that he never stuffs his immense
knowledge, or his opinions/theories, down the throats of his characters.
Rather, he creates characters who are as imaginative, knowledgeable, and
eloquent as, well, Tom Pynchon.  This isn't Pirate having a bad dream that
could be interpreted as being about the Holocaust by a clever reader, it's
Pirate having a dream that could be interpreted as being about the
Holocaust by Pirate.

--Kevin Troy