Shutting down New York

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/1/04 9:26:09 PM, lycidas2 at earthlink.net writes:

<< How does the fact that Frenesi sets up Weed to be murdered by Rex fit in
with your reading of the worms? >>

I'm not convinced Frenesi sets up anyone. As I've stated previously,
I think she still believes that there will be a non-violent resolution-
the alternative future of the picnic on the hillside with Rex and Weed
laughing about old times. She has accepted Brock's challenge and brought 
the gun to the scene. It's the camera vs. the gun. But Weed and Rex let 
her down. Weed could have been honest, for a change, and admitted his
collaboration with Brock, given up his unwanted mantle and gone back,
bemusedly, to theorem-land.

Rex would like to blame the "fucking whore" Frenesi for his crime, which
was probably more motivated by his suppressed rage at Weed for not
intervening and keeping him from giving up his "parsh" to Elliot X, than
by Weed's collaboration. Rex has all the makings of a serial killer. It is 
the typical masculine reflex to blame "fucking whores" for one's own 
failings and weaknesses. No doubt, he'll find more opportunities to make 
himself feel powerful when he makes his way to S.E. Asia. No one forced 
Rex to kill Weed.

The self-similarity of "the worms" or more specifically, their song, across
scales, has more to do with the structure of the novel and Pynchon's
attempt to settle karmic debts, than to your claims of "the fact that 
Frenesi sets up Weed to be murdered by Rex."

respectfully