VLVL Frenesi/"happy ending"?

[jbor]

>> We're not told exactly how often Zoyd has "performed" his jump already, but
>> it is likely that Prairie has seen her dad on tv from quite an early age on.
>> Whatever this does to a young psyche. She's obviously an expert for his
>> jump:
>> 
>> "Lookin' good, Dad." (15.4)
>> 
>> "Give you a nine point five, Dad, your personal best (...)." (15.28)
>> 
>> While there's surely a lot of irony in the description of the "experts"
>> discussing Zoyd's de- or transfenestration technics and in the observation
>> of the increasing video-quality through the years I'm not sure how much
>> irony (if any at all) is in Prairie's remarks.
> 
> I think she's making fun of him, but affectionately.

And cf. the more impartial judgement made by a similarly-aged young girl who
comes into contact with Zoyd on the highway: "you ought to be locked up"
(5.18-19). 

Zoyd's negligence as a father is highlighted nowhere more prominently than
in the final chapter where, having been separated from Prairie for several
weeks or more, and not even trying to contact her in the meantime, he heads
off "looking for beer" when at last she does reappear (370).

The text doesn't offer explicit judgement on any of the characters in the
novel, of course, and more often than not it's the reader's prejudices which
are on display when judgements about "good" or "bad" characters are offered
rather than a logical appreciation of the supposed "attitude" of the author
or text. Likeable though I find him, Zoyd's shortcomings are manifold, and
they are manifest in Pynchon's text.

best