Blicero

[Jeremy Osner]

Agreed -- I have never seen Blicero as an unequivocally "evil"
character, well, not since early in my first read anyways. Now Marvy, I
tend to think his function is comic relief, but yeah, he's not at all
likeable or sympathetic. I think the only two non-sympathetic characters
in the book (that I can think of) are Marvy and Bloat -- Bloat is IMO
way more *evil*, Marvy is just corrupt good ole' boy, kind of funny in
that he always fucks up -- a bad guy but incompetent. (And in the end
impotent as well.) Blicero/Weissman is OTOH complex and deep, certainly
*evil* on a basic level; and also as you note *loved* by several
sympathetic characters, and obsessed, and...

jbor wrote:
> 
> ----------
> >From: Doug Millison <millison at online-journalist.com>
> >
> 
> > isn't Pynchon doing the same to Blicero/Weissmann as a
> > representative of pre- and WWII-era Nazi German in his portrayal of
> > him as a monster, diseased, predatory, in love with death?
> 
> As well as Miklos Thanatz's portrait and assessment of Blicero's character,
> the text provides the reader with those of Enzian, Katje, Gottfried and
> Pokler, each of whom are depicted as having known the man somewhat better
> than Thanatz (and they aren't about to shit their pants at the sight of
> their own shadows at any moment as he is). They present quite different
> pictures of Blicero's character, behaviour and personality imo.
> 
> And, of course, one of the final portraits of Blicero is the text's, and
> there he is quite a pathetic figure imo. (724.1-18)
> 
> I'm not sure that there are any such equivocations about Marvy at any stage
> in the novel.
> 
> best