AtDTDA : 12

[David Morris]

On 6/28/07, mikebailey at speakeasy.net <mikebailey at speakeasy.net> wrote:
>
> Pynchon's view of Tesla doesn't seem to be focussing on impairment here.  My strongest take was of Tesla reliably recounting his vision, and the influence of nature, especially mountainous caves - but also storms ---

I think Tesla's vision is akin to the I Ching Hexagram for "Thunder, "
since he describes some sort of imminent manifestation:  "something
enormous had been poised to happen, requiring an electrical discharge
of a certain size to trigger it."

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ddiamond/h51.html

51. The Arousing, Thunder, Enlightenment, Awareness
THUNDER above,
THUNDER below

In hexagram 51 we are at the explicit moment when one detects a
transition from stillness to movement. An arousing influence that
inspires one to action. In the image, the feelings of anxiety and fear
are enhanced in the people by the powers that be, such that any change
in the environment will trigger these emotions and the change is thus
quickly detected. Contextually, we combine inspiration with
disentanglement (independence) to get a moment of enlightenment and
awareness.

In the senses world arrangement this hexagram becomes the beginning as
well as symbolizing birth.

> ---like the one Kit just passed thru, and which he will foist off as a counterfeit religious life-changing experience -- sort of a tainted double to Tesla's storm-driven vision in the cave...
>
> Vibe fils entices him to lie to Vibe pere... exactly the corruption process described by Vanderjuice...
> ...though it takes him to Goettingen which Vanderjuice did recommend, still it's under a false flag

No, I think your take on Kit's passage through the storm is too
pejorative.  Kit experiences a real breakthrough in arriving at
Tesla's shack.  Kit sees in Tesla the scientist he wants to be (or
thinks is his "real" self).  'Fax's advice to Kit is wise, not
corrupting:  "[Do] what I do.  Pretend."  This proves to be the only
way one can deal with Vibe Sr. as will be demonstrated in the next
section.  Deception, in this case, is not a moral lapse.  It is a wise
strategy.

330.
"Kit carefully pretended to instruct him [Vibe]"

Later in this segment we'll see that Foley has adopted a similar
strategy of stealth in the presence of the madman Vibe.

David Morris