MDDM Ch. 70 Higher Assembly

[Doug Millison]

> "Here are the last Cadre, out in the uniterrupted
> Visto,-- from a certain Height, oddly verminous upon
> the pale Riband unfolding,


"verminous" is not a very flattering way to describe
this group, is it, whether it reflects only the POV of
a narrator or of Pynchon himself, as the novel draws
to a close, the negative impact of the Line and those
who draws it comes into greater relief.


> in a
> Cycle
> belonging to some Engine whose higher Assembly and
> indeed Purpose, they are never, except from
> infrequent
> Glimpses, quite able to make out." (M&D, Ch. 70, p.
> 683)

Here M&D (and Pynchon) seem to acknowledge the desire
to place ourselves in the picture of something bigger
than ourselves -- the religious impulse, taking
"religion" in its root meaning of to connect.

"[Middle English religioun, from Old French religion,
from Latin religi, religin-, perhaps from religre, to
tie fast. See rely.]"
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=religion


http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/3425/page005.htm

"The word Religion and the word Rely both come from
the same Latin word, Religare, meaning to bind or tie,
which is similar to joining two oxen together with a
YOKE, which comes from the same Sanskrit word as YOGA,
which means, UNION, which is related to COMMUNION.... 

So, imagine a window washer, on a tall skyscraper, who
TIES a safety rope to himself, RELIES on it, has FAITH
in it. His goal is not the rope (religion) itself but
the cleansing of the windows."


(Please note, I am not here in any way asserting that
Pynchon is advocating a religious view of the world,
only observing that M&D observes this human impulse.) 


>The phrase asks us to believe (in mythic or
> paranoiac terms) that the rocket at apogee passes
> through a temporal singularity, an equipoise or
> still
> point exempt from the normal laws of time and
> motion.

Something like the Duck in its geosynchronous orbits.

Thanks again, Dave.  Your selections to prompt
discussion are interesting as usual.



=====
<www.pynchonoid.blogspot.com>

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