Pynchon as propaganda

[s~Z]

>>>If it's what the chaplains are preaching to the men, and if it's
what's happened/happening/going to happen to the dead soldiers, then what's
the point of the passage?<<<

The point of the passage is not to contrast theism and atheism, for which
there is no evidence in the text. People of faith do die. The text is silent
on what happened to them afterwards. It is to contrast Christian faith as
solace and hope in the face of death with Christian faith as instrument of
death. The message offered by army chaplains stands in stark contrast to the
closing images in the section of the Virgin gazing down on the sacrifice of
Hiroshima. The phallic mushroom cloud has the same 'hey-lookit-me smugness'
as the Cross.

The fireburst came roaring and sovereign. . . .