VLVL2 (1): Man and Dog

[Vincent A. Maeder]

>>The only thing I can think, based on his use of these characters in
his
books, is in contrast to the complex human foibles versus the simple
emotion and actions of the dogs making them more humane than the humans
who control them...

V.<<

>True!  And I also wonder if the notion of dog as a domesticated brute
is
somehow tied to that.  "Domestication" and "control" are two sides of
the
same coin, and I wonder if the connotations of either play a significant
"yin-yang" role in the novel.<

Yes, and perhaps tied to the issue of Pynchon's main characters tending
to be animals domesticated by Them; the dog as reflection of the
emotional and psychological makeup of the main character.  Compare the
conditioned dogs vs. Slothrop against the L.E.D. vs. Mason and Dixon.

V.