VLVL(11) Frenesi the conduit

[Toby G Levy]

Continuing the summary of chapter 11...

As soon as Frenesi turns off the TV, Vond starts taunting her about Weed
Atman.  He knows that she has been sleeping with him and he first calls
him "your Mathematician" and then implies he aspires to messianic goals:
"Maybe he's one of those servants of the Lord, with a holy mission to
defy Caesar."

Vond reveals that he doesn't just want to destabilize the People's
Republic of Rock and Roll, he wants to suck the "spirit" out of Weed
Atman like a vampire.

Using a creepy sexual metaphor reminiscent of Gravity's Rainbow, Vond
tells Frenesi that he communicates with Weed Atman by using her orifices
to send "scented messages."  There isn't much in Vineland that brings
Gravity's Rainbow to mind, but this part surely does.

Pynchon states that this statement by Vond is "a secret about power in
the world."  But Frenesi does not understand it.  Very clearly in this
passage "power" is a synonym for "evil." By saying that Frenesi does not
understand the "secret" I don't think Pynchon is letting Frenesi off the
hook. I think he is implying that Frenesi thinks her ignorance of Vond's
intentions allows her to do what he tells her to do without guilt.

They drink a bottle of wine "imported from Arkansas" and talk of love
and death.  Frenesi states that men kill each other because they can't
love each other and Vond objects that what she said was just "hippie
shit."

Frenesi revises Vond's sexual metaphor by saying she is a "medium" for
bringing messages from Atman to Vond by having Atman's message come "in
these four holes," her eyes and ears, "comes out this one," her mouth.
She concludes by saying "Hey, and let's not forget nostrils, huh?"

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