Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon

[jbor]

on 22/5/03 11:49 PM, Terrance at lycidas2 at earthlink.net wrote:

> You see, Robert, P does in fact parody the common left leaning pot
> smoking paranoid dude in the Foreword, but the dude in the parody is not
> his target. He's just your average American "schlemiel."

No argument here, though he or she is "Western" rather than just American I
think. The "those among us ... " from earlier in the essay are just your
average person too. It's the extremist attitudes ("justifying any government
action, whether right or wrong", and announcing that "'the Government has
turned into Big Brother'") which are being satirised in both instances.

Parodying a conversation between two "far out" empty-heads is the technique
via which Pynchon satirises the point of view offered therein.

best