Bolingbroke Down in the Dumps

[tess marek]

--- Malignd <malignd at yahoo.com> wrote:
> <<he seems to load them with a deliberate but ironic
> stereotypical weight -- Washington's slaves, the
> Malcolm X crew from GR, and so on.>>
> 
> I think this is more or less correct. 

This is certainly the case with many of his
characters. For example, Marvy in GR or Gershom in
M&D. But Bolingbroke is a different case. Reading from
Low-lands to the Watts essay to GR, the development in
Pynchon's attitude is pretty clear. And if it's not
clear we have his own statement in the Introduction to
SL. It seem the List is reluctant to take P's word for
it when he says that the tal in this story was his own
at the time. It is far more interesting to try to
figure out why Pynchon continues to use the same
method (the ironic stereotype loaded up with ironies).
I think this is simply how Pynchon creates his
characters. He loads his characters up with ironic
doubles and inconguencies. Sometimes he layers his
ironies over an historical figure like Washington or
Henry Adams or Mason. Sometimes he layers historical
figures, i.e., St. Paul over Mason or Graves over
Adams in Stencil. Is Gershom even funny? He's a comic,
right? Is Tom Pynchon funny? Or is his sense of humor,
as I've said previously, often an inside joke that
only he can get without more trouble than it's worth.
P, I think, recognizes this about his writing and even
has fun at his own expense with several character who
make jokes that sail right over everyone's head or are
misunderstood. Hell, if everyone was as funny as me
and you MalignD, the world would be on its ass all the
time. 



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