Pynchon as propaganda

[jbor]

on 6/4/03 3:00 AM, Paul Mackin at paul.mackin at verizon.net wrote:

> I was being hopelessly metaphysical and theological because that was
> what would seem like where the chaplains would be coming from. This is
> why NOTHINGNESS did not stand out on their list of topics for me to the
> extent it did for Rob.I was back with St. Thomas and Aristotle whereas
> Rob was up  into the loneliness and meaninglessness of the human
> condition sort of thing. Sartre's freedom . Being and Nothingness. Being
> and No-thingness. Or, since Rob was speaking of the possible religion of
> Pynchon, Kirkegaard's need for God was part of it.

I think the hopeless situation of the soldiers and the poignancy of the
passage hinges primarily upon a recognition of the futility of religious
faith (which is the original interpretation I offered, along with the
observation that it seems to be about the futility of war in general). If
what the chaplains were preaching about God and death and redemption and
salvation is taken as "true" (if that was the ontology endorsed in or by the
text, if it is Pynchon's or the reader's belief), then the prospects ain't
really so bad for the soldiers. Sure most of them'll die, but then their
souls will all be carried off to heaven and everything will be hunky dory.
So off you go boys and fight with Glory of God in your hearts etc etc. In
that light the passage loses much of its force, and the tone of incredulity
in the last two sentences is very much out of place.

Don't know of any Christian religion which endorses "nothingness" as its
central tenet, which is why it really stands out for me in that list.

I realise that even suggesting that atheism might be a driving force within
Pynchon's texts is tantamount to treason here, and not open for civil
discussion, but it seems to me that the possibility that a "God" or gods
don't exist is consistently excluded by some when in fact it is the basis of
belief systems held by many people across all cultures. Such intolerance
does make a mockery of claims to pluralism and respect, of course.

best

    There were men called "army chaplains." They preached
    inside some of these buildings. There were actually
    soldiers, dead now, who sat or stood, and listened.
    Holding on to what they could. Then they went out, and
    some died before they got back inside a
    garrison-church again. Clergymen, working for the
    army, stood up and talked to the men who were going to
    die about God, death, nothingness, redemption,
    salvation. It really happened. It was quite common.
                                        (GR 693)