VLVL2 and NPPF: Missed Communication

[Tim Strzechowski]

3.4 - 3.8  "In his dream ..."   Zoyd's dream of carrier pigeons is essentially a dream of missed communication, an opportunity to receive a message (rescue?), but an inability to get to them. Throughout the novel, watch for additional hidden signals and "missed communications," a recurring motif in this work (and other Pynchon novels).


Now in rereading, I notice quite a few examples of missed communication in the chapter, ranging from the note left for Zoyd from Prairie, to the telephone call he receives regarding his "rescheduled" window jumping performance. Of course, the "You'll see" conversation with Slide, the Log Jam onlookers' perception that Zoyd's name is "CHERYL," the Log Jam/Cuke Lounge mishap, the "Blind-Side Gazette," the candy sheet window incident -- all contribute to the overall sense of missing the true meaning of the reality at hand.

Do Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune add to this motif?  How?

How does the motif of "missed communications" (or miscommunication) function in Chapter One of Vineland in a variety of ways?  Is there a pattern to the examples?  
 
In what ways is this a common motif in the works of Pynchon?  
 
Does Pynchon seem to suggest that this is a personal human factor, or is it a sign of something larger, more bureaucratic?
  

from Pale Fire:

"A few days later, however, namely on Monday, February 16, I was introduced to the old poet at lunch time in the faculty club. [...] 'Come, come,' said Professor Hurley, 'do you mean, John, you really don't have a mental or visceral picture of that stunning blonde in the black leotards who haunts Lit. 202?'  Shade, all his wrinkles beaming, benignly tapped Hurley on the wrist to make him stop. [...] and they all laughed" (Vintage Edition, 21-2).
 
How is "missed communication" a factor in Charles Kinbote's "Foreward" to Pale Fire?  Aside from the obvious misinterpretations of Shade's poem (discussed in full in the Commentary sections), how does Kinbote's "Foreward" utilize this motif to establish the characterization of Kinbote? 

Does "missed communication" help in the characterization of Shade?



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