Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon

[Otto]

----- Original Message -----
From: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 2:23 PM
Subject: Re: Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon


>
> (...) but this is the point. Do the society and experience
> depicted in _1984_ truly evoke life in America since 9/11,
> or "circa 2003"? For anyone? On what basis, when it's not
> apparent from anything that is actually written in the Foreword,
> can the claim be made that Pynchon believes Orwell's Oceania
> evokes the U.S.A. post-9/11? This, after all, *is* the claim
> which is being made, and it's being made, even if only by a
> certain lunatic fringe hereabouts, in order to assert that America
> really is just like Oceania and Bush really is just like Big Brother.
>
> best
>

Well, this is what he says, no more no less:

"The grouping of Britain and the United States into a single bloc,
as prophecy, has turned out to be dead-on, foreseeing Britain's
resistance to integration with the Eurasian landmass as well as
her continuing subservience to Yank interests ...."
(p. xv)

What, if not Tony Blair's policy as the latest example of this
"subservience" could be meant here?

Otto