MMV - Notes on names

[John Bailey]

It’s always a tricky question when it comes to the names of Pynchon’s 
characters, and I don’t think a cabbalistic search for meaning therein will 
necessary shed that much light on them. But, it’s certainly something the 
stories play with, tease the reader with, so to begin here’s a list of 
possible references etc. Also, interesting to note the appearance of Rachel 
Owlglass (though not given surname, her height is the same) and in fact the 
consistency of odd name-choices from these early stories.

“by Tom Pynchon” - did the other early stories originally use this 
abbreviated first name?

“Cleanth Siegel” – “Siegel's passivity in this story suggests the Greek 
stoic Cleanthes, Zeno's disciple.” Says Charles Hollander in Pynchon's 
Politics: The Presence of an Absence 
(http://www.vheissu.be/art/art_eng_SL_hollander.htm) “Siegel” is German for 
“seal”, and similar to “sigil” as well. Or it could be, you know, someone he 
knew.
“Rachel” is Hebrew for “innocent lamb” or similar. Note that female 
characters in this story are frequently given only a first name, (Debby 
Considine is the exception), while male characters are given a surname or 
full name.
“Cousin Miriam” – Miriam is also a Hebrew name, this time a variant on Mary. 
In the Old Testament, Miriam was the older sister of Moses and Aaron.
“Zeit” is German for “time” – reading the relevant sentence as “cursing Time 
the doctor” is interesting, and not too much of a stretch, in my opinion.
“Grossmann” – large man? Big Man on Campus?
“David Lupescu” Hollander notes the lupus-wolf connotations, as well as the 
Magda Lupescu (1896-1977 - ‘official’ mistress and later wife of Caroll II 
of Romania) link. She was unpopular ‘due to her Jewish origin’, which may be 
relevant to this story. This second is perhaps supported by the latter 
reference to David L. as Romanian. Unrelated oddity – there’s a jazz muso 
named Valentin (or Val) Lupescu, Rumanian of course, who heads a band named 
the (wait for it….) V-Loop Trio. There might also be some interesting stuff 
surrounding Lupescu’s first name, ie King David etc, but I’ll get back to 
that as I’m scared of getting the Bible wrong on the P-list. Look at me. 
That’s actual trembling.
“Paul Brennan” – It seems that in this story filled with typically obtuse 
Pynchonesque names, we have here an utterly bland one. For this reason, it 
stands out more. Would I be correct in thinking this would be a very 
US-WASPey kind of name?
“Harvey Duckworth” – What’s a duck worth? Harvard/Duckworth (both publish 
books, though I don’t know how long Duckworth have been around)?
“Lucy” – the name Lucy has the same root as ‘lucid’, and itself means 
‘light’.  She doesn’t shed much light on nothing, though.
“Debby Considine” – consorting? As in, Deb-like consorting?
“Krinkles Porcino” – Krinkles seem to be some sort of cookie, and porcini 
are a kind of mushroom. Unless there’s a porcine reference in there 
somewhere, I think that will do.
“Monica” – Now, we aren’t told too much about Monica, seeing as how she’s 
just one of the bit-players in Lucy’s convoluted saga. But I did notice that 
Lucy’s tale ends with “The girl’s a saint”, and so whimsically googling St 
Monica I found her to be the mother of St. Augustine, and also an 
interesting patron saint in her own right. She’s patron of sons & husbands 
who’ve gone astray (her own husband being a monster, and Augustine a 
self-confessed lazy little pig for much of his life), and more specifically 
patron saint of: abuse victims, alcoholics, difficult marriages, victims of 
adultery or unfaithfulness, widows and more, though my favourite is…Patron 
Saint of Disappointing Children.
“Sybil” – In Greek myth, the sybil was a prophet-figure (there’s also a 
tarot deck named after her).
“Sam Fleischmann”  - “Meatman” or maybe “Fleshman”, though it’s hardly a 
rare or unusual name.
“Irving Loon” – Perhaps the lamest name Pynchon has come up with, err, I 
mean, the multivalent resonances of bird, moon and madness add an ambiguity 
to this figure. Insane, a force of nature or simply an aspect of it? Gazing 
down upon the party or rising up from within? Still, suggesting a form of 
psychosis and naming a character Irving Loon smacks of sloth.



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