Watts article

[jbor]

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_watts.html

    "There was a time," they'll tell you, "you'd say, 'Take off the
    badge baby, and let's settle it.' I mean, he wouldn't, but you'd
    say it. But since August, man, the way I feel, hell with the
    badge -- just take off that gun."
    
>> even though it's
>> attributed
>> as "they'll tell you", the speaker actually refers to
>> himself as "I" ("I mean", "the way I feel").
> 
> "The speaker" who refers to himself as "I" is "they"
> and Pynchon is noting what they "will" tell you.  This
> makes sense to you?

The kid's speech which Pynchon is recording is greeted with general
approbation. Pynchon attributes the sentiment to the broader group ( ... on
the street corner ... in the domino parlour ... ), and in writing up his
report he has positioned the reader as a potential future visitor -- one who
might, if they make the effort to go into Watts ( ... or Harlem ... or
Newark ... ), meet up with this group, or one just like it.

Why else would Pynchon cite a first person utterance and then label it with
a third person attribution (in the future tense)?

> Quotation marks = direct speech

In non-fiction texts, quotation marks = direct speech.

best