MDDM Ch. 32 Twins

[John Bailey]

Otto,

I guess there is an element in Pynchon of this, ie using twins as a literary 
trope rather than, well, anything else. Pitt & Pliny's names are, I would 
argue (and I guess I am) firstly a gag, and secondly something more. But 
firstly, a gag. Also, and this is in response to everyone whose added to 
this conversation, yep, there are lots of instances of 'geminity' and 
character pairings and complementarity in various Pynchon books but I don't 
think his characters are consistent or stable enough to privilege these 
mirrorings over much else, ie Tchitcherine and Enzian are linked, but it's 
the kind of teasing link which never resolves itself into the perfect closed 
system which is suggested in Barth. Or, Mason and Dixon, whose relationship 
is very dynamic and even volatile, and shifts a lot, usually very reactive 
to 'the outside world'. I guess I'm saying that often, the relationship of 
twins is used to represent a sort of relationship *distinct* from that of 
non-twins. Mason and Dixon aren't twins. But I'm much more interested in 
their relationship than in Pitt and Pliny's.

Good read, which I've hawked here before:
Schwartz, Hillel "Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses, Unreasonable 
Facsimiles" New York: Zone Books, 1996

Covers the fascination with twins, also doppelgangers, photocopiers, 
cloning, wax museums, embalming, talking parrots, the origin of the term 
'The Real McCoy', photography, shadows...just the start of it.

Also, MalignD, thank you for pointing out that Barth is himself a twin. I 
did not know that.

And I'd hang around for a group read of MD, though I don't know that I could 
contribute much to the already excellent postings flying around here lately.


>From: "Otto" <o.sell at telda.net>
>To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: MDDM Ch. 32 Twins
>Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 09:07:20 +0100
>
>"mutual reciprocity?" in German, according to my dics:
>gegenseitige Gegenseitigkeit?
>Thomas, Kurt, Kai, Nika -- help me out.
>
>Fine post, John. But are they really so different:
>
>"French Women, come to that," mutters Pitt.
>"It's not easy being pious for both of us, you know," Pliny advises.
>(7.26-27)
>
>Of course Pitt & Pliny are monozygotic twins:
>
>"May we have Indians tomorrow, Uncle?"
>"Of course, Pitt."
>"Pliny, Sir."
>"The Younger." Off they go.
>(316.22-25)
>
>Interestingly by this binary opposition (the older vs. the younger) the
>historical Pitts (brothers, but not twins) & Plinys (uncle and nephew) are
>usually separated from each other (see Chap.1, p. 7.19-21).
>
>Judy has posted something on the twins last September, with interesting
>links:
>http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=59250&keywords=Pliny
>
>not to forget this fine one from Mutualcode who points to the reversed
>binary of naming the older after the (historically) younger pair:
>http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=59601&keywords=Pliny
>
>old, but interesting discussion on "Pitt's Anachronism":
>http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9706&msg=16111&sort=thread
>
>Otto
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: John Bailey <johnbonbailey at hotmail.com>
>To: <o.sell at telda.net>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 5:25 AM
>Subject: Re: MDDM Ch. 32 Twins
>
>
>-schnipp--
> >
> > But....twins. Barth talks about twins as a closed system, mutual
> > reciprocity. The 'real' twins of M&D, Pitt & Pliny, don't seem to be
> > especially representative of this notion. But the perpetual motion 
>watch,
> > well, it's a closed system, and would require a mutual reciprocity of
>energy
> > to function, with that endless deferral of, well, reality, just like the
> > closed world of twins...but sometimes that real world doesn't want to be
> > deferred, and so it eats you up, slurping you down like a noodle (I love
> > that image).
> >
>
>
>
>




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