VLVL2 (2) Prairie and Zoyd

[Paul Nightingale]

Maturity/immaturity is a good way of looking at the roles played by both
Zoyd and Prairie; it reminds us that identity isn't fixed but open.

In Ch1 Zoyd is at the service of state power. Ch2 asks him to become an
authority-figure himself; yet his performance as father (ie patriarch,
paterfamilias) is, perhaps, less convincing than his performance of
crazy, which at least earns him an income of sorts. If we compare Zoyd's
conversations with Prairie and with Isaiah, it's the latter that sees
him 'playing dad' most clearly and consistently. Isaiah calls him "sir",
which on the surface at least is respectful. Yet on two occasions the
text refers to Isaiah's height, from which we might infer that he dwarfs
(and even intimidates?) Zoyd. They have previously argued, perhaps
seriously: there is some tension there if Zoyd has to "thaw".

It's the appearance of Isaiah that allows Zoyd to assert himself: the
tone of his conversation with Prairie changes the moment Isaiah is
mentioned. Prairie apparently goes to some trouble to manipulate her
father, reminding him (and the reader also) that he's supposed to be the
man in charge. Perhaps, as Tim suggests, she is frustrated - insofar as
her role as teenage daughter isn't clearly established: in this chapter
she adopts several different roles in relation to Zoyd. The tone is
playful, but one is reminded of Brock's view that the 60s radicals
'wanted' authority.

For his part, Zoyd seems to derive pleasure from conning Isaiah over the
wedding: you'll learn, young man - the final paragraph being the only
time (until the closing reference to Hector) that Zoyd seems to relax,
sure in the knowledge that, somehow, he has the upper hand. He knows
something someone else doesn't: cf the earlier moment when he can't tell
Prairie about the fake window, it would undermine her admiration of him.

Zoyd 'needs' Isaiah in order to perform authority. Male conflict with
Prairie as some kind of prize? This, the classical patriarchal
arrangement, prefigures Brock-Frenesi-Weed (explicitly, comments by
Brock on p214 and Sasha on p305). Here in Ch2 the reference to the
wedding, which is what 'resolves' the Zoyd-Isaiah exchange, is a
reminder that such occasions traditionally display/perform/confirm
patriarchal power. VL on the whole emphasises the distaff side, of
course.