VLVL the collapse of the Youth Movement

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/22/04 3:28:55 AM, jbor at bigpond.com writes:

<< Of course. He supplies Frenesi with the gun. That's beyond the scope of his
job, and it's not something which he or Frenesi tell the grand jury (even
though it is "his" grand jury p. 199). >>

He's the only one with an apparent motive, which he also supplies, 
and would be essential for a guilty verdict.

<< I've said it a number of times, but I'm happy to repeat it: in a court of
law, if all the facts were known, then Rex, Frenesi and Brock would each be
convicted and sent to gaol. But it's Frenesi who is the lynch-pin. Without
her active and voluntary activity as the go-between Rex would not have
believed that Weed was a snitch, he would not have had the gun, and Weed
would not have been shot. By any measure (that of all the other characters
in the text, and of somewhere in the vicinity of 99.9% of readers, for
example) she is the one most responsible. >>

Brock has intimidated, frightened and coerced Frenesi, who is loathe 
to carry out any of his jealousy motivated plans, hoping that the camera 
and the truth it reveals will somehow shortcircuit Vond's thirst for blood. 
She has nothing else left to negotiate with. She mistakenly believed her love 
would reform Vond, touch his inner-child, so to speak, but she gave him too
much credit. He's completely walled off from the feminine aspect of his
being- petrified of it- as he's petrified of sex.

<< I think that because Pynchon's critique of the '60s Youth Movement doesn't
match with your ridiculously one-eyed viewpoint, you've been clutching at
any straw, no matter how much it contradicts the previous one (It's really a
fake text! It's really a glorious paean to feminism! It's really just a tv
parody! Frenesi's really a heroine! Rex and Weed are really the FBI stooges!
It's not really about the '60s at all!), in order to try to rewrite it to
represent something -- anything -- other than what it does. >>

Just following the text of this finely crafted novel which I enjoy so
much- even more than when I first read it. It's interesting that you
would like to convict Frenesi- hold her up as the most guilty of all-
when even thanatoid Weed, in denial as he is, recognizes that Frenesi
is not guilty. Notice that Weed does not exonerate Vond; nor does the
author.

The text is wonderful, but it's no more real than thanatoids are
real. Are thanatoids real? Do they dream of thanatoid sheep on
the hillsides of Shade Creek? The text is multi-leveled but you
would seem desperate to collapse it to only a single literal and
legalistic plane where you can judge both it and Frenesi. No wonder
you were so disappointed with the novel.

Unlike Brock, Frenesi is not terrified of what lurks in her attic or 
her basement. She embraces those aspects of her being and brings
them to light, that place where thanatoid Weed still can't quite get 
to, but, no doubt will....eventually. It's why, despite her material
disadvantages compared with Brock (and Weed and Rex, &Etc..)
she's so strong, and, eventually, she prevails.

respectfully