TSI, Notes 1: Tom and Sam (Mark) and Huck and Baby Tyrone

[Michael Perez]

Abdiel OAbdiel wrote:
"One of the flaws in TSI is the inconsistancy of the
intelligence of the characters, particularly the kids.
Pynchon, while he says that that he can't much
remember these stories and so on...is quite apt at
getting at the critical problems of the tales. To read
Jim as having inferior intelligence is to misread HF.
HF is a very ironic text. Is Tom smarter than Huck. Is
Huck smarter than Jim? No. How about Grover? Is he
smarter than Tim?"

It's not so much a limitation in intelligence as it is in experience, I
believe.  There is also the absence of the necessity for
responsibility.  Grover and Tim are both intelligent in their way.
Grover is more obsessed with learning in order to throw a wrench in the
works of the grown-ups.  They don't always have all the answers. 
Grover knows only mathematical integration and has never heard of
liquid nitrogen.  These are things about which he has not needed to
know.  All of the children in the story share this urge to set
themselves apart from the grown-ups, but, of course have the same
responsibilities - they can be just dumb kids.  If they fail or make
the wrong decision, there is little damage to their lives.  It doesn't
seem difficult to them because the consequences are at a minimum. 
Granted, these particular boys have had some unique adult-like
experiences under their belts, especially Hogan, being a pre-pubescent
alcoholic.  They have stolen, fenced, vandalized, interfered with rail
transportation, trespassed, caused a week long closing of the paper
mill that employed fathers and mothers of other kids, and probably
performed many more misdeeds than are beyond mischief, yet they still
feel totally vindicated.  Still, they have not experienced life enough
to understand what they are fighting.  They are self-proclaimed
outsiders and think they can relate to other outsiders.  However, some
outsiders don't feel part of their Junta.  Mrs. Barrington sees them as
a part of the boys' parents' world.

My question is, though:  Is this what Pynchon thought about the beats? 
Are Mailer's "White Negroes" and the recent times' "Whiggers" childish,
self-centered know-it-alls who develop the mannerisms, cultural
appreciation, dress, and speech of African Americans of either time
(the 50s or the 90s)because they want to be outside without
experiencing the nastiness and descrimination that provided the
background for these cultural developments?  No matter how much
appreciation Pynchon had for _On the Road_, is this what he learned
from the beats?

Michael

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