TSI, Notes 2

[Michael Perez]

141.16  "Slothrop":  In Chapters 27 and 28 of _The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn_, Huck relates the story of a slave family that was
split up; two sons went to Memphis and the mother to New Orleans.  Mary
Jane, saddened by the breaking up of this family, agrees to go to stay
at Mrs. Lothrop's while Huck plots to bring the family together again. 
Whether this is where Pynchon got the name or whether it is in any way
a reference to Huck's story is not entirely certain.  We may suspect, I
believe, that at the very least he would have liked how the name
sounded and the adding of the "s" to incorporate his favorite deadly
sin would possibly have appealed to him enough to re-use the name in
_GR_, in addition to its use here.
  Many editions of _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ exist,
including several online.  See the Huckleberry Finn Home Page at
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/huchompg.html
At this site are links to interesting text and graphic artifacts,
particularly about Jim and the issues surrounding his portayal in the
book and by illustrators.
  First published in 1885, excerpts from it were read and were popular
features on Twain's "Twins of Genius" Lecture Tour between November 5,
1884, and February 28, 1885.  Twain and George Washington Cable, author
of _The Grandissimes_ and other fiction about New Orleans, did over 103
performances in 80 cities.  Cable, who was the son and grandson of
slaveowners and served in the Confederate Army, was also the author of
an essay on southern attitudes toward African Americans that was
published in _The Century Magazine_ in January 1885 (in which excerpts
from Twain's new book were also published) called "The Freedman's Case
in Equity."  In this essay, Cable wrote: "We have shown that the very
natural source of these oppressions is the surviving sentiments of an
extinct and now universally execrated institution; sentiments which no
intelligent or moral people should harbor a moment after the admission
that slavery was a moral mistake."  The tour and the essay fueled a
fair amount of furor in the press of the time.  During the time the
tour was halted for the Christmas, Twain changed his presentation to
include the section of the book where Huck and Tom attempt to free Jim.
 The previous excerpts concerned Jim's take on investment and King
Solomon.  Controversy over this arguable classic of American literature
has not ceased to this day, of course.

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/