VLVL (6) Brock

[jbor]

on 28/9/03 1:33 AM, Terrance wrote:

> You've got to identify the implied author of the text. Not too hard to
> do. Robert gave us two example.  Vietnam and the burning of American
> Cities.  We know what P said about these.

Yes. In the 'Sloth' essay he states how "a failure of public will" permitted
"the introduction of evil policies" in the American 60s, JFK's and LBJ's war
in Vietnam being the example given. And the 'Watts' article provides a
pretty clear picture of where he stood on the issue of officially-sanctioned
racism against black communities under the same political regime. Both the
_SL_ Intro and _Vineland_ confirm these negative assessments of that
"failure of public will" which was hippiedom.

And, in terms of identifying implied authorial judgements in the novel,
don't forget that description of Zoyd as "vile-minded" (60.7).

More often than not, however, Pynchon's narrative agency in the fiction
stands aloof from the competing perspectives and interpretations which are
provided, as with the description of Brock's anger and despair after Frenesi
left him: 

    But it was to be a while yet before reports stopped coming in
    from lunch counters and saloons, often known to have strictly
    enforced attitude codes, in unlikely West Coast locales, of
    disruptions by a, some said "wild-eyed," others "terminally
    depressed," Brock Vond. (69.25-30)

His emotional reaction seems to have been little different from Zoyd's.

best