ATDTDA (2): More Wayward Thoughts and Questions ...

Paul Nightingale isread at btopenworld.com
Sat Feb 10 11:27:42 CST 2007


The new section begins by juxtaposing Nature to History. On the one hand,
the proposed Tesla system will supersede natural power; on the other, the
way in which, according to Vibe, he intends it to happen will conflict with
the capitalist mode of production and lead to "the end of the world" (34,
and the sentence continues by invoking the blurb, of course). Moreover, the
reference here to "fish-market anarchy" reminds us that the transgressive
act isn't against Nature per se, but against the laws of the market as laid
down by liberalism. (And then, as Robin's post on Billingsgate reminds us,
Pynchon has once again offered improper speech as an example of the
transgressive.)

The dramatic irony of Vibe's doomsaying, moreover, asks us to look ahead to
the succession of global threats the C20th produced. His talk of a
"counter-transformer" invokes the arms' race that was already under way at
the end of the C19th.

This is a brief passage in which little actually 'happens'; the reader is
brought up to speed (ostensibly Vanderjuice's main function since his
introduction, getting the reader from the Chums to Vibe). Here, this is
achieved, for the most part, by allowing Vibe to speak; yet the reader must
be tempted to respond, first and foremost, to the hyperbolic way he
expresses his world view. The use of dramatic irony positions the reader:
allied to the discomfort shown by the Professor, this allows the reader to
adopt a perspective on Vibe.

Yet, towards the bottom of 34: "Vibe's eyes with a contemptuous twinkle
which colleagues had learned meant he had what he wanted." Here, the reader
is positioned, briefly, within the Vibe camp, with the "colleagues" who know
how to interpret his body language. The section ends with the Professor
contemplating "the criminality in the room" (35), the final lines indicating
the distance travelled from the Chums and Ray Ipsow.






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