VV(11): Fingernail

[Dave Monroe]

"He fumbled for a cigarette, nervous.  She flicked over a pack of matches 
with a fingernail he could feel already gliding across his back, poised to 
dig in frenzied when she should come."  (V., Ch. 8, Sec. i, p. 217)

Cf. both ...

"'Benny,' one fingernail touched his face" (V., Ch. 1, Sec. iii, p. 26)

And ...

"Inanimate money ws to get animate warmth, dead fingernails in the living 
shoulderblades, quick cries against the pillow, tangled hair, lidded eyes, 
twisting loins...."  (V., Ch. 8, Sec. 1, p. 214)

So Benny has a thing for fingernails, and, perhaps in particular, Rachel's 
fingernails.  But why "dead fingernails"?  From the Encyclopedia Brittanica 
Online ...

Nail

In the anatomy of humans and other primates, horny plate that grows on  the 
back of each finger and toe at its outer end. It corresponds to the claw, 
hoof, or talon of other vertebrates. The nail is a platelike, keratinous, 
translucent structure that consists of highly specialized epithelial cells. 
The nail grows from a deep groove in the  dermis of the skin. All nail 
growth occurs at the nail's base, where the specialized cells that make up 
the nail's plate are produced; these cells are pushed forward as new cells 
form behind them. The nail plate is also attached to the underlying, richly 
vascularized nail bed, which supplies the plate with necessary nutrients. 
The cells at the front edge of the nail plate die and turn white as they 
lose contact with the nail bed. The whitish, crescent-moon-shaped part of 
the nail, known as the lunula, is also not attached to the underlying nail 
bed. The nail's chief function is to protect the terminal portions of the 
toes and fingers. On the fingers, the front edge of the nail assists in the 
manipulation of small objects, as well as in scratching.

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,56058+1+54686,00.html?query=nail

"He scratched his stomach.  'Sure.'" (V., Ch. 1, Sec. iii, p. 27)

So, contrary to what might be "common knowledge," your nails are not 
entirely composed of dead, "inanimate" matter.  Nor, while we're on the 
subject, and, again, contrary to "common wisdom," do either your hair or 
your nails continue to grow after death.  Instead, your skin recedes, 
causing the illusory appearance of said "growth."

But some intersting binaries there nonetheless, whether or not Pynchon  is 
knowingly playing on or simply reproducing such erroneous shared 
"knowledge," "wisdom," whatever.  Not only inanimate/animate, dead/living, 
but also--and there is much of this across that Pynchonian ouevre as 
well--pain/pleasure, maybe even death/sex.  At precisely those flickering 
fine lines "between" such terms ...

But keep in mind as well the fingers to which said nails grow from here, the 
hands to which said fingers are attached ...

"... hands it cannot escape.  Hands it doesn't want to escape" (V., Ch. 8, 
Sec. 1, p. 217)

Hence both Rachel's and Benny's nonsurprise?  Rachel's impatience, even?  
"It's about time."  As promised, it is, indeed, Chapter 8 "in which Rachel 
gets her yo-yo back," "her yo-yo" being Benny Profane being "it" being that 
"sovereign or broken yo-yo," which brings us to ...

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