"against the Day"

[Don Corathers]

Also occurs on p 125 of M&D, in a less obscure sense than the p 683 usage,
just after Mason sees Dixon off from St. Helena:

The Stars wheel into the blackness of the broken steep hills guarding the
Mouth of the Valley. Fog begins to stir against the Day swelling near.

Interestingly, it actually occurs twice on 683. There's:

...yet, whilst they bide in this Realm of the penny-foolish and
Pound-idiotick, till the Moment they must pass over the Crest of the Savage
Mountain, does there remain to them, contrary to Reason, against the Day, a
measurable chance, to turn, to go back out of no more than stubbornness, and
somehow make all come right...

And then, a few lines later, there's:

... --Tent-Poles and Spades a-clatter, a Lanthorn against the low-lit Day,
falling and smashing upon the Ice, tiny trails of flame borne instantly
away.

It seems unlikely that a writer as careful as Pynchon would use the same
phrase--even considering the different meanings and the interposed
adjective--twice in a hundred-word stretch without intent. Especially a
phrase that is so freighted with meaning for him that he has chosen it as
the title of his new novel.

Or maybe not. Maybe now that we know it as the title, we'll be seeing it
everywhere. Unconsciously using it in conversation, e-mail, letters to the
electric company...  

Don Corathers




-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf
Of Paul Mackin
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 10:13 AM
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: "against the Day"


On Aug 13, 2006, at 9:35 PM, Dave Berton wrote:

>> > This phrase occurs in M&D, p. 683.
>> >
>>
>> Good eye
>>
>> Thought it ought to be in there somewhere.
>>
>> Could it mean "while we're all waiting for that future and more
>> certain time when all will be revealed and justified?"
>
> Can I ask why that phrase ought to be in M&D?


It's a short prayer, an ejaculation.  Like saying 'Lord have mercy,'  
or 'Saints preserve us,' or 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph."

Though it is the Age of Reason,  there is still a hope and belief in  
Divine Providence.

A theme of  the  passage is 'possibility,' the  realm of what might   
be, the uncertain future, what can only be spoken of in the  
subjective mood.

Only time will tell. (the end of time actually)

There is also the irony.  Does Reason increase or decrease  
'possibility?'

Does the Day of Judgement?




>
> I found another phrase in VL, p. 25, which talks about a 'storm',
> rather than a 'day'.
>
> "Zoyd guessed that at some point since their last get-together Hector,
> as if against a storm approaching over his life's horizon, had begun
> to bring everything indoors."
>
> db