AtDTDA: (8) 231-232 The Fool

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

          Tore:
          One more thing: Thelma describes The 
          Fool as "the classic journey card." In 
          most versions of the card, a dog is 
          portrayed next to the fool, setting off 
          on his journey (or arriving back home 
          after his journey?). This, then, would 
          seem to correspond to that Pynchonian 
          motif identified in GR as "the kind Dog, 
          the Dog no man ever conditioned, who 
          Is there for us at beginnings and ends, 
          and journeys we have to take, helpless, 
          but not quite unwilling" (GR, 655).That 
          dog appears both in GR (a red setter, 
          for instance, is one of Gottfried's last 
          things before plunging to his death in 
          the 00000); in Vineland (Desmond); 
          in M&D (The Learned English Dog who 
          sees Mason and Dixon off on their 
          journey, and who's there on their last 
          meeting); and in AtD (Pugnax). Always 
          there's a dog somewhere right at the 
          beginning and right at the end. Might 
          this motif of the kind Dog be inspired 
          by the Tarot card The Fool?


Fool that I am, the thought never crossed my mind. Brilliant, Tore!