VLVL2 (3) The Temptation of Zoyd

[Paul Nightingale]

The Biblical temptation story is a narrative of space as the location
shifts. Ch3 in VL establishes a narrative of time, the relationship
between experience (what happened "back then") and characters'
subsequent recollection. Certainly the chapter can be subdivided into
three phases: the flashback, the extended conversation about Frenesi,
the appearance of Dr Deeply. Whether these three phases correspond to
the three moments in the Biblical version remains to be seen.

Hector's failure to turn Zoyd in Gordita is perhaps the first
temptation. The action then moves to the restaurant and the first
mention of Frenesi. Is this a second temptation? Zoyd speculates (bottom
of 25) as to Hector's situation ("Zoyd guessed ..." etc); and Hector
brings up Frenesi in the context of the novel's first sustained
reference to Reaganomics (26-28) and the description of his decline/fall
(29). Apparently, this is a new departure; they don't usually talk about
her. In Ch1 Zoyd was tardy, all but failing to keep up with the
narrative. Here in Ch3 the introduction of Frenesi offers him a
continued role as a protagonist: if he succumbs to temptation he'll
possibly remain central to the narrative instead of being sidelined when
Prairie's quest takes over.

Is there a third temptation? What remains is the end-scene with Dr
Deeply (32-34). The explication of Hector's Tubefreekery makes sense to
Zoyd (bottom of 33) and the chapter ends with Zoyd's transformed
perspective on Hector ("who it now seemed ..."). The final passage notes
their shared experience as TV fans and their shared fate, labelled as
"some sort of ... lunatic". So: in what way is this temptation? Is he
tempted to identify (or empathise) with a Hector who isn't the
then-Hector whom he resisted?