VLVL2 (10) Realists and dreamers, 198

[Terrance]

Bandwraith at aol.com wrote:
> 
> "The question then becomes, what is Pynchon's text attempting to
> say regarding the hugely asymmetric relationship between the status
> quo and the "ippy bums"? and, what should have been the responsible
> actions of those otherwise typical American kids in dealing with that
> asymmetry of power and the cognitive dissonance engendered by the
> immoral actions of their own government and its corporate underwriters?"
> 
> In a message dated 1/1/04 11:46:38 PM, lycidas2 at earthlink.net writes:
> 
> << Why must the text attempt to say anything regarding such matters? The
> answer to your question is implicit, so what do you need Pynchon's book
> for? >>
> 
> I don't need the text- I choose to engage it. The answers are not
> implicit for me, at all, but if they are for you, what are they?

Oh come now, your question implies that Pynchon's book is critical of
the hugely asymmetric relationship between the status quo and the "ippy
bum", that the "ippy bums" were typical American young people rebelling
against the immoral policies of their government and the corporations
that supported it.   


> 
> << The 60s crew in VL is sick. Like the whole sick crew in the novel V., we
> have a sick crew in Vineland.  In 1984, when the novel opens,  they are
> still sick. >>
> 
> I don't think that any of them are sick, btw, but if you do:
> 
> Does that mean that Ditzah is only playing at being sick? If so,
> does her current solvency and her job, whatever that may be,
> mean that she is no longer playing at being sick? Is she more or
> less ill than Frenesi? Is there a cure for this illness of "the 60s
> crew"? Should they be forced to undergo treatment, or, just allowed
> to continue in their "ippy bum" ways and watched closely for any
> signs of their ailment spreading to the majority of Americans?

Ditzah is sick. 
The whole crew is sick. 
No one is cured. 
Some seek treatment,  Hector, Mucho, the Thanatoids, but no one is
cured.