SLSL "assembly line"

[William Zantzinger]

"The death detail worked precisely, efficiently, like
  an assembly line.  Every once in a while one of the
  offloaders would turn aside to vomit, but the work
  flowed on smoothly. Levine and Douglas sat watching
  them while the sky got darker, losing more of the
sun
  which nobody could see." (44)

And 

"After a while..." (bottom of page 37)

"Sorry, sir," Levine called after him. And then more
quietly, "God Rizzo, did you see that?" 
Rizzo laughed. "war is hell," he said ungraciously.
(37-38)

Levine seems to be wowed by the combination of the
"two silver bars" and the ragged and filthy khakis. 

Somehow, but we are not told how, Levine has managed
to avoid work detail for three years. Three years!
That's damn near impossible. Maybe he was in prison
for a long time. We're not told. Could the narrator be
exaggerating?  We can't be sure. This is another flaw
in the story as far as I can tell. In any event,
Levine doesn't show much respect for his superiors,
the chain of command, organization on base. He's "gone
native" (this is an important phrase and worth talking
about…it may have been coined during British rule over
India, Raj,  (1757-1947) and it has all sorts of
meanings…can be used as a negative or positive…can be
used when talking specifically about language or
people in military service…etc…but I'll note that it
is a phrase that Pynchon uses in his first published
story, MMV and in that story he references Conrad's
"Heart Of Darkness."  Conrad is more influential here
than anyone else, including Hemingway-Conrad's
influence is present throughout Pynchon's oeuvre ).
The narrator provides a particular and detailed
description of Levine's  "Gone Native" conduct and
demeanor. Although Levine has given up Jazz for
Hillbilly, and so on, his attitude and his behavior
are still that of a "college sophomore." Not only does
he show little or no respect for his superiors, the
chain of command, the organization, he deliberately
and persistently exasperates the people he works with,
i.e., his encounter with Pierce (33).  

At the bottom of page 43 (an important paragraph)  we
get the merging of Levine's college life and army
life. He heads down to the pier with Douglas. 

Doug notes that this passage reminded him of the
Luddite essay. 

"The death detail worked precisely, efficiently, like
  an assembly line.  Every once in a while one of the
  offloaders would turn aside to vomit, but the work
  flowed on smoothly. Levine and Douglas sat watching
  them while the sky got darker, losing more of the
sun
  which nobody could see." (44)

Reminded me of the Homer's Iliad, of Thucydies, of his
Peloponnesian War and specifically, the funeral
oration of Pericles, which has always reminded me of
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but after 9-11, reminds
me of a garbage dump in New Jersey. 

Anyway, what happens at the pier  is that an old
master sergeant comes up to Levine and Douglas and
talks about Korea and then we get this: 

"Despite its machine-like efficiency the operation had
a certain air of informality: hardly anyone wore hats,
a colonel or a major would stop to chat with the
corpsmen. "Like combat," the sergeant said. "All the
rules are out. Hell, who needs 'em anyway." 

The next day, Levine goes down to the pier and goes
out to harvest the dead. 
Then he plows Little Buttercup. 

Yes! Very funny this terrible thing is. A man that is
born falls into a dream like a man that falls into the
sea. If he tries to climb out into the air as
inexperienced people endeavor to do, he drowns--nicht
wahr? ... No! I tell you! The way is to the
destructive element submit yourself, and with the
exertion of your hands and feet in the water make the
deep, deep sea keep you up. So if you ask me--how to
be? 




















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