AtDTDA: [38] pgs.1074/1075 The Obliterator

[Mark Kohut]

With, of course, lots of exfoliating meanings, some not so overwhelmingly positive, idiot is more a good person to be in Pynchon than not, yea?

An idiot, an "innocent' private citizen......just trying to live a private life........

The Obliterator reminds me of stories of Ellis Island workers changing names and erasing the European pasts of immigrants.  


--- On Mon, 8/11/08, robinlandseadel at comcast.net <robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: robinlandseadel at comcast.net <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
> Subject: AtDTDA: [38] pgs.1074/1075 The Obliterator
> To: "P-list" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Date: Monday, August 11, 2008, 9:22 AM
> There are serious issues regarding Idiocy on these pages.
> First off:
> 
>           Reef, Stray, and Ljubica returned to the U.S.
> pretending 
>           to be Italian immigrants.
> 
> Ah, you cry "But what happened to
> Yashmeen—Idiot!" 
> 
> Let's try to find the painting in this mistake.
> 
> First off, Ljubica can't return to the states,
> she's never been 
> there before. Unless we managed to get mixed up in some 
> Quaterninionic time tunnel, packed with parallel time
> tracks:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To_FmzOoJe8&feature=related
> 
> At Ellis Island, Reef, regarding it his best option,
> remains silent long 
> enough to get a big "I" for idiot chalked on his
> back. An service employee sponges it off—AGAIN [how can he
> sponge it off again if it's the first time he's
> sponged it off]—IDIOCY!
> 
>           '''Wait.'' Reef said,
> "who are you?" 
>           "They call me 'The
> Obliterator.'" 
>           Reef came to think of it as a kindness on the
> part of some crypto-                    
>           Anarchist. who'd drifted into government work
> but could still 
>           recognize and help out a fellow outlaw.
> 
> The idiocy theme in Against the Day is explored in this
> Pynchon Wiki article:
> 
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Idiots_and_Idiocy_in_Against_the_Day
> 
> But first, I'm going to play a little song:
> 
>           Out on the floor, used
>           To be such a bore,
>           Till we discov-ered
>           What thrills were in store, with
>           That step ex-otic, known as
>           'The Idiotic' . . .
>           Head like a pin? drool down your chin?
>           Could qualify-you
>           To give it a spin, tho'
>           It sounds neurotic,
>           It's just 'The Idiotic'!
>           Take all those
>           Waltzes and polkas,
>           Stuff 'em all-down-a-hole, 'coz
>           There's a scat-terbrained rhyth-m to-day . .
> .
>           It's the new 'Idiot-ic,'
>           And it's kinda hypnotic,
>           In its own imbecil-ical way!
>           (Say),
>           Try, it once-and-you'll-find
>           You've, gone out-of-your-mind
>           For—the craze of the mo-ment,
>           That's one-of-a-kind,
>           And it's just-so narcot-ic, that
>           I ven-ture to say . . . you'll
>           Be doing 'The
>           Id-iotic,' till they
>           Gotta-come take you a-way!
> 
> AtD pgs. 823/824