VLVL 3 Zoyd and Hector

[jbor]

on 12/8/03 11:52 AM, Don Corathers at gumbo at fuse.net wrote:

> 
> And that he's Mexican actually makes Hector's
>> "pachuco schtick" more authentic than it would otherwise be.
> 
> From the Hanna-Barbera part of Mexico, I guess.

Just thinking about this a bit more. Are you suggesting that Pynchon decided
to use an ethnic stereotype to emphasise the point that the character is
morally reprehensible? I find that unlikely, and Hector doesn't strike me as
a cartoon-like character at all.

I think the notion -- Paul N's point I think -- that Hector has
self-consciously nurtured a "Ricardo Montalban impersonation" over the years
is the basic gist of the characterisation (23.21). And I'd say this has been
a deliberate effort on Hector's part to accentuate his ethnicity.

best