VLVL (6) Working for the Man

[jbor]

It might be worthwhile considering the list Pynchon compiles of those
"independent contractors" who, like both Frenesi and Zoyd, have been on the
government payroll since the end of the '60s or so:

    There were Long Bihn Jail alumni, old grand-jury semipros,
    collectors of loans and ladies on strings who'd been persuaded
    to help entrap soon-to-be ex-customers, snitches with photographic
    memories, virgins to the act of murder, check bouncers, coke
    snorters and ass grabbers, each with more than ample reason to
    seek the shadow of the federal wing, and some, with luck, able to
    reach its embrace and shelter. (87.5)

"Long Binh Jail" evokes both the Vietnam War and LBJ, and perhaps "RC" or
Blood. Frenesi is more or less one of those "ladies on strings", a "snitch"
with a "photographic" specialty, if not memory. And, "virgins to the act of
murder" is an echo of Zoyd's protestation of innocence back in Ch. 1 (and he
is, as we've seen, a "check bouncer", which is the category immediately
following).

I wonder what the implied author's attitude to this motley collection of
thugs and thieves might be?

best