Mothers work for Them!

barbara100 at jps.net barbara100 at jps.net
Mon Oct 15 02:14:04 CDT 2001


I know you don't like to talk to me much, but I have some questions about
what you wrote below. And I realized it might have been unfair to yell at
you for not responding my  GR post when you'd written one before and I never
bothered to respond.  I'd rather be humble than be a hypocrite, so my
apologies, Terrance.
You ask a lot of interesting questions about GR here, one's that I haven't
considered before, but I'm not sure where you're going with them.  And I'm
not sure what you mean by Pynchon's 'treatment of women.'  You "can't think
of any novelist whose treatment of women comes close to P's"?  Do you think
he means to insinuate something about women in particular? To be honest, I
haven't been focused the male/female treatment of people in GR very much.
Perhaps I should, but up until now, I've been seeing Pynchon's critique of
men and women in that book as subtle shades and nuances of a greater
Humanity.  Maybe I've been too big-picture, but even so, I think his
depiction of people--whether it be good, bad or some mix thereof--is
balanced.
But you're right. And of course Doug is right. Pynchon does make some very
powerful distinctions in the sexes.  No doubt he's trying to tell us
something about how women fit into the scheme of things in all those
references you and Doug cite. But what are we supposed to make of it?  What
do you make of it?  Do you see the women characters in GR in a more
disfavorable light than the men characters?  Are you smelling misogynism
there?  I can't tell really.  Seeing your long rant of examples of female
treachery makes me think maybe you are.  That and the fact that I know you a
little now, and a misogynistic read wouldn't surprise me at all.  But like I
said, I'm not sure where you're going with it.  Y-you don't mean to
insinuate it's all the woman's fault, do you?


----- Original Message -----
From: Terrance <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2001 7:58 AM
Subject: Re: Mothers work for Them!


>
>
> Doug Millison wrote:
> >
> > "'That's what [...] they want a great swollen tit with some atrophied
> > excuse for a human, bleating around somewhere in its shadows. How can I
be
> > human for her? Not her mother. Mother, that's a civil-service category,
> > Mothers work for Them! They're the policemen of the soul...'" (GR 219)
> >
> > "[...] In his October 7, 2001 war announcement, Bush shamefully
showcased
> > the ideal feminine gesture during this tragic time -- literally to be
> > willing to sacrifice our men. He said, "I recently received a touching
> > letter that says a lot about the state of America in these difficult
times,
> > a letter from a fourth grade girl with a father in the military. 'As
much
> > as I don't want my dad to fight,'" she wrote, "'I'm willing to give him
to
> > you.'"
>
> In GR, females are more than willing to give up their fathers and sons
> to the war and
> the worship of Death. Why? Slothrop's mom is very good example.
>
> As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock
> At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand.
> But as he turned to go, he called his mother close
> And he dropped his medals down into her hand.
>
> --Bob Dylan, John Brown (1963)
> >
> > Feminism should help us identify how the war cry is partly dependent on
> > particular definitions of masculinity and femininity. Feminism can help
us
> > see how gender politics reinforces isolation and asks us to bypass
> > thoughtful responses in the name of unity, which translates into mostly
> > corporate-appointed, white, male decisions about how the country will go
> > forward. [...]"
>
> What do feminists think of Pynchon's women? His Mothers? What can
> explain the Mothers of GR? I can't think of any novelist whose treatment
> of women comes close to P's.
>
>
> Why has happened to women and to men in Pynchon's novels.
> Why do the abuse and abandon, sell, prostitute their own children?
>
> Is it the war? Is it Capitalism? Or something deeper?
>
> It's something religious.
>
> How can we account for Mr. Pynchon's female characters? His mothers? His
> daughters? His witches good and his witches evil?
>
>
>  The mothers want their sons to die in war. Nalline wants this for her
> son. How about that black bitch that murders children?
>
> Under the "present dispensation" the freedom of life is
> thwarted by ritual conditioning to death:
>
> "...mothers and fathers are conditioned
> into deliberately dying in certain
> preferred ways: giving themselves
> cancer and heart attacks...going
> off to fight in the war--leaving their
> children alone in the forest. "
>
> And we know who is playing both roles. The Witch. Death. Blicero.
>
> And how does cross-dressing and plastic fit into this sacrifice of the
> pig of god that takes away the world from sin?
>
> Is this because women's power has been proscribed?
>
> Mothers work for Them, they are the policemen of the soul, they make
> children "crack."
>
>  They hand her the orb and scepter, which in this case are grilled pot
> roast and a whip, and the orchestra plays Tristan and Isolde." GR.505
>
> Why Tristan ans Isolde? Something religios.
>
>
>
> It is because mothers are fertile, mysteriuosly endowed with god's own
> accident of creation. Within the Mother is the great cosmic force. So
> her apostasy is greatest.





More information about the Pynchon-l mailing list