pynchon-l-digest V2 #1688

[Doug Millison]

Blicero/Weissmann:  "malignant," "a cankered root" (666); "Blicero's 
seed, sputtering into the poisoned manure of his bowels" (722); 
"wolf eyes" and "madness" (486); "screaming maniac," "breaking into 
that ungodly coloratura," "God's poorest and most panicked creature" 
(465); "Death" (322); "his teeth [...] were to benefit most directly 
from the Oven" (94); "one of several grey eminences", "a brand-new 
military type, part salesman, part scientist" (401) -- these are all 
Pynchon's depictions of Blicero as viewed through the eyes of many 
characters (Enzian, Katje, Gottfried, Pokler, Thanatz, Greta).  Add 
Pynchon's more general characterization of Blicero/Weissmann as 
extreme narcissist, the way he manipulates and abuses everybody he 
touches (including Pokler and the various girls he has pose as 
Pokler's "daughter'). Considering the development of this character 
in chronological time (as opposed to the back-and-forth of the 
novel's presentation) Pynchon traces a remarkable arc of degradation 
in the devolving portrayal of Blicero/Weissmann, the depictions 
growing more grotesque and monstrous the nearer we approach the end 
of the book; the final picture of Blicero shows him considering 
Gottfried's sacrifice in the Rocket "for purposes of self-arousal" 
(758).

rj: "I'm not sure that there are any such equivocations about Marvy 
at any stage
in the novel."

Well, I suppose you might say that Pynchon at least partially 
"redeems", so to speak,  Marvy by describing him as "enjoying himself 
innocently as you do" (606), a characterization that gives him a 
human dimension in his encounter with the prostitute.

If, as rj has said,  the castration of Marvy represents Pynchon's 
rendering of justice to Marvy -- -- surely we can find a similar 
"justice" rendered in Pynchon's portraits of Blicero.  Yes, Pynchon 
provides a nuanced portrayal of each; certainly the reader can find 
much to relate to and sympathize with in Blicero's torment and 
delusion, just as the reader can identify with Marvy's fleshly 
appetites.  But, sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander:  you can 
hardly sustain the argument that Pynchon renders literary justice to 
the U.S. military-industrial complex through the castration of Marvy 
without acknowledging that Pynchon does the same in his portrayal of 
the diseased root (the Nazi rocket program, and the project of 
genocide within which it flourishes) from which blossoms the U.S. 
rocket program, Marvy's raison d'etre in GR.

It is good to see rj embrace the sort of Pynchon reading (taking 
characters and situations in the novels to represent people and 
situations in history) that he previously condemned with such venom 
in Hollander's interpretations. That gives me hope that perhaps we 
might be able to discuss the substantial work that Hollander has done 
in tracing out where Pynchon's historical, political, and artistic 
allusions might lead, a topic that shouldn't be taboo or shouted down 
each time it's mentioned in a forum that's devoted to the discussion 
of Pynchon's work.
-- 
d  o  u  g    m  i  l  l  i  s  o  n  <http://www.online-journalist.com>