Ch. 11 (WAS- something about capitalism...)

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

Pynchon elegantly, as per usual, insinuates his take on
"the spirit of" capitalism haunting the nascent global
community most clearly in, appropriately, Ch. 11 of M&D.
 
Early on:
 
    "...St Helena was a part of the Tale that  I miss'd,
    along with it the Reverend Dr. Maskelyne, who
    has continued, even unto our Day, as  Astronomer
    Royal, publishing his Almanack and doing his  bit
    for global Trade."
 
    "Something wrong with that Wicks?" inquires  Mr.
    LeSpark.
 
    "Only insofar as it is global, and not  Celestial,"
    replies the Rev'd,... (p.105, Holt)
 
 And later, most devastatingly:
 
    Out upon Munden's Point stand a pair of  Gallows,
    simplified to Pen-strokes in the glare of this  Ocean
    sky. A Visitor may lounge in the Evening upon the 
    Platform behind the Lines, and, as a Visitor to  London 
    might gaze at St. Paul's, regard these more  sinister
    forms in the failing North Light,- perhaps being  led to
    meditate upon Punishment,- or upon  Commerce...
    for Commerce without Slavery is unthinkable,  whilst
    Slavery must ever include, as an essential  Term, 
    the Gallows,- Slavery without the Gallows  being as
    hollow and Waste a Proceeding, as a Crusade
    without the Cross. (p.108, Holt)
 
Commerce = Slavery = the Gallows... If A = B, and B =
C, then, A = C: the law of commutation. But the above
stark existential sketch is also a figure for the basic  
quantum paradox- the infamous double-slit experiment
(note the preceding textual description of the remorseless 
waves which perpetually assault this Isle and pair of 
"Pen-strokes")- and, as you might know, in quantum 
mechanics the law of commutation does not hold; middle 
Terms may not be suspended; no possibilities- no matter 
how improbable- may be excluded from the final sum, no
matter how inconvenient, or, unprofitable-
 
lest they become sleeper seeds, sown now, only to sprout at 
sometime unspecified- in the future.
 
Bandwraith
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20050716/ad38c260/attachment.html>