Repost: The Big One

[David Payne]

On Sun, 13 Jul 2008 (18:06:37 -0400), Laura (kelber at mindspring.com) wrote

> When we're talking about whether TRP's writing is morally flat or un-nuanced, the implication is that he's somewhat of a prig or at least a knee-jerker.

That's not at all my implication.

First, I was talking about the moral universe that Pynchon's character inhabit -- I was not talking about Pynchon's personal characterists as a human being.

Second, as I failed to point out, labelling "morally flat" as bad and "morally nuanced" as good is a bit silly. Perhaps I should have said "morally distilled" instead of "morally flat" and said "morally abiguous" instead of "morally nuanced"? 

Third, is it possible to discuss Pynchon's use of moral distillation (i.e., removing moral ambiguity and deception by exposing Evil and Good with great clarity) as a means of presenting a morally nuanced vision? In other words, is there a difference between Pynchon's moral vision in a work of fiction and the moral universe that the characters inhabit? So there's this guy called "Rocket Man" who wears a cap and does battle with Grand Evils ... that, to me, sounds like a character inhabiting a morally flat--er, morally distilled--universe. But does the novel also contain a nuanced moral vision that is crafted by Pynchon's expectation of the reader's interaction with the the fictional and historical elements of GR? 

I'd like to say yes, but everytime I try to articulate examples, it all just sounds like a bunch of BS--so it beats me, quite frankly.

Anyhow, the example of Frank blowing up the train was a better response to my poorly articulated thinking. Do we see someone suffering moral quandries and does this struggle lead to moral evolution? But still, we're talking about a guy who's having second thoughts about blowing up a friggin' train full of people , not the moral struggles of Jimmy Carter's lustful heart (talk about yr moral distillation!). (Or maybe we're actually talking about the way the passage suggests the moral amiguity of the situation? The good and the bad on the two sides of the tossed coin?)

Anyhow, I'm probably just confusing Pynchon's flat characters with flat morality. My bad.

(Just a joke foax, only kidding, satire....)
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