VLVL 4: War, politics and love

[Otto]

----- Original Message -----
From: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 1:44 PM
Subject: Re: VLVL 4: War, politics and love


> on 28/8/03 8:22 PM, Otto wrote:
>
> > RC and Moonpie surely had their reasons to change their names.
> > Maybe they had done things that were considered as illegal, maybe they
have
> > their own "Hector" still looking for them.
>
> It's odd that they'd rename themselves after a brand of Cola and a type of
> ice cream though. I think Pynchon has to be taking the piss a little bit.
Or
> else they were, which could be more of a possibility except for what
they've
> called their children -- "Morning" is the eldest and "Lotus" is the
baby --
> which are pure stereotypes of the sort of godawful names which hippie folk
> lumbered their kids with back in the '60s.
>

Agreed (see my other post).

> A-and I just noticed that the narrative actually describes them as a "bush
> vet and his family" (35.18), which pretty much nails it. Every other time
> I've read the novel I think I must've skimmed over that "vet" as short for
> veterinarian, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense but sort of fitted
in
> vaguely with their alternative, nature-friendly lifestyle, but I think
it's
> fair to say that RC's *definitely* presented by Pynchon as a Vietnam vet
> who'd gone off to live in the "bush" after his discharge. Incognito.
>

Dito, that 35.18 made me check the translation.

> Which I guess puts quite a different spin on why they might've actively
> "erased" their "trail since the war" (35.25-7). It now seems likely to me
> that RC and Moonpie were ashamed of the fact that he had served in
Vietnam,
> and had changed their names and tried to start life afresh when he
returned
> with the rest of the US troops in January 1973 after the Paris Peace
Accords
> were signed. So, more deceit, another sellout story.
>
> best
>

I don't buy that. Official America hasn't been very nice to the
Nam-Veterans, so after their return many of them joined the counterculture
(let their hair grow long) where they were greeted friendly. The anti-war
movement wasn't hostile to the single soldier but to the government that had
sent the poor guys into the Vietnam-quagmire.

It's more likely that RC had deserted from the troops. That would be a good
reason for a name-change.

Otto