m&m's in v

[Paul Nightingale]

In MMIV Siegel's recollections are juxtaposed to the stories told to him
by other characters; hence, for the reader, his narrative function
changes, and instead of simply referring to him as 'protagonist' it
might be appropriate to consider the different ways in which this
character is related to the rest of the story.

We accompany Siegel to the party while learning about his past life; and
then sit with him on the margins of the party to listen to Rachel, Lucy,
Debby as they, in turn, give detailed accounts of action (and
relationships) elsewhere. In terms of the narrative, we can say this
two-fold function corresponds to an 'old' and a 'new' Siegel (the latter
role foisted on him by Lupescu, of course). Throughout, once the party
has started, 'old Siegel' will reassert himself in the form of
flashbacks triggered by something someone else (Lucy, Debby) has said. I
would suggest that these triggers operate differently, have different
narrative functions (ie it's not just a case of flashback following
speech following flashback, etc).

The final flashback, triggered by Debby's use of "melancholia", begins
as others did with Siegel's personal recollection, this time of an
anthropology lecture; his ability to 'place' "melancholia" ("[t]he old
memory bank was still functioning after all") is reassuring. Note that
for Siegel the word doesn't specifically refer to the Ojibwa: it refers
in the first instance to Debby's choice of a technical term, and then to
the recalled lecture and the scene with Grossmann. The text observes
that Debby might have said "melancholy": which term, not associated with
specialist discourse, wouldn't have had the same meaning for Siegel (and
no doubt for Debby also).

The anthropological information offered about the Ojibwa has, therefore,
two functions. Firstly, it takes the story to another level (and
according to Holton Pynchon hasn't bothered to rewrite his source
material here--it serves as found material in a story that makes much
use of cultural references as found material); and this in turn prepares
the reader for the conclusion.

Secondly, the 'specialist knowledge' links old and new Siegels; and also
confirms the relationship of Siegel and Debby, each being quite
self-absorbed (ie the fact that she is using specialist language and he
recognises as much is more important that the fate of the Ojibwa). Upon
meeting Debby, Siegel is compelled to contribute something, "flipping
over a stack of mental IBM cards frantically .. to provide material ..."
etc when she asks if he knows the Ojibwa. Apparently the knowledge is
there, "but he was damned if he could pin it down" until she has spoken
the key word.