ATDTDA On Pearl Street, twangs of conscience

[kelber at mindspring.com]

This section (bottom of p. 331 and on) is a weak point of the book, IMO.  Vibe and Walker sitting
 around, kind of gleefully rubbing their hands ( a la the Simpsons' Montomery Burns) OPENLY 
admitting the conspiracy, more or less admitting to the murder of the elder Traverse.  As a 
Pynchon fan, I like my conspiracies hinted at or implied, whether by glance or grafitti.  Spelled 
out and over-exposited (expositioned?), it comes across as cheap melodramatics.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: mikebailey at speakeasy.net
>Sent: Jul 2, 2007 1:50 PM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: ATDTDA On Pearl Street, twangs of conscience
>
>ok, did Kit get singled out beforehand,
>or was he swept up in the Lieutenants of Industry 
>program by sheer Vibe-luck?
>
>I rock back and forth on the fine points of 
>this question:
>
>Foley recruits him _before_ he shows his mettle
>by giving Tesla useful advice, and doesn't so
>far as I see recruit Kit's buddy, or any others
>among "Doc Tesla's boys".  And there's
>no "Telluride House" for the Lieutenants on Yale's
>campus, in fact Kit rooms with a Vibe.
>
>But, there was an "electrician's grapevine" and
>word of Kit in his own right (not as Webb's son)
>would have been enough to trigger interest.
>Kit is an extraordinary talent, capable
>of becoming - in Vibe's vision - an in-house Edison
> 
>OTOH, Vibe's comments indicate that he'd thought
>Kit's bloodline - the bloodline of his enemy -
>somehow "purer" than his own -- "I wanted so 
>to believe" -- would he have thought that 
>had he known the full extent of Webb's activity?
>
>his comment "The elder Traverse's sins are documented -
>once they were brought to light, he was as good as lost"
>would make the most sense if, when Kit was recruited,
>Vibe only knew Webb was a radical unionist - and
>then found out the "rest of the story" 
>and at that point laid his plans for the rest of the family
>including Webb.
>
>Instead of seeing this as the fortuitous gift
>of Chance that it is (like Fleetwood with the 
>diamond thief - "he could have made him do anything" 
>- Vibe has Kit inveigled in the skeins of his Organization 
>- Kit only needs some handling, and SV has plenty of helpers: 
>Dittany, Fairfax, even Vanderjuice and Tesla - with FW's help,
>and the Vibe fortune, none of them has to be loyal
>or even know they're working Vibe's will - it's not
>like Kit would be inconsolable, given the terms of
>his parting from Webb, but rather that nobody
>gives him any consolation) - SV freaks, nobody is
>delegated to break the news tactfully (so he loses
>spin control) and even blows the interview with Kit, 
>then sits around philosophizing. 
>
>I suggest that this parallels the godfather dude
>in Vineland, whose friends suggest that he is, in
>fact, too kind for the position he holds.
>
>...that Vibe's Christianity is more than a pose,
>and he's shaken by the deed he's done.  Not to the
>point of seeing a shrink, like Tony Soprano, but
>enough that his grasp on his business empire suffers.
>
>