Zoyd

[John Carvill]

>> VL is Pynchon's diagnosis of the failure of the 60s revolution. [...]
>> No matter how sympathetic we find either
>> parent of the novel's true protagonist (Prairie) - and both of them
>> have redeeming human characteristics and are immensely "likeable" -
>> ultimately neither had what it takes, the "courage of their
>> convictions", and *that's* why the 60s revolution failed, so Pynchon's
>> parable tells us.
>
> Again, I mostly agree. However, as John rightly points out, outside forces
> - the Nixon Repression - also had something to do with it. The revolution
> was doomed from the beginning for those reasons you outline above, but
> National Guardsmen gunning down students are also to blame for the failure
> of the revolution. VL shows us both sides of the coin.

Plus, to be fair, can we really expect Zoyd to have the courage of his
convictions, when those convictions were never really his in the first
place?

As I think I said before, zoyd was not very political but got sucked
into political matters by Frenesi, who was only using him. Frenesi
thenleft himwith a kid to bring up, and a whose set of associated
problems (Brock, for one) which had really nothing to do with Zoyd
himself but which he then had to face.