TSI, Notes 2--Lothrop Stoddard

[Richard Romeo]

--- Michael Perez <studiovheissu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 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.
-----------
I wonder if Pynchon is referencing Lothrop Stoddard
who wrote about race and white supremacy in the 20s
and whose writings are apprently influential in white
supremicist circles today. 

Rich

>   

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