IV thought - SPOILER

[John Bailey]

Nice, I agree.

Just did a quick wikipedia check on Amethyst too - "The name comes
from the Ancient Greek a- ("not") and methustos ("intoxicated"), a
reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from
drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made
drinking vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent
intoxication."

Makes the baby-born-hooked-on-smack scenario even sadder.

On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 5:00 PM, Tore Rye Andersen<torerye at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> John Bailey:
>
>> Why does Doc of all people make Coy and family his number one priority
>> at novel's end?
>
> My guess would be for sentimental reasons of family, which we know have
> come to play an increasingly large part in Pynchon's novels. I think one
> of the central stories in IV is the story of a family which gets broken
> and is put back together again. If IV has a 'heart,' this is it.
>
> As far as I remember - correct me if I'm wrong - Amethyst is the only kid
> in IV, and both VL, M&D and AtD have taught us to pay extra attention when
> it comes to kids who are abandoned by their parents. In VL Frenesi does the
> abandoning, in M&D Mason leaves his kids back home, and in AtD Webb abandons
> his kids for his precious union. The abandoner in IV is Coy, but he differs
> from the other absquatulators in that he returns of his own volition (with
> a little help from Doc, who still has both his parents - loving parents, at
> that - and who may wish the same fate for Amethyst). At any rate, there's
> still Hope for this little girl.
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