CoL49 (3) words she never wanted to hear [PC 40]

[David Morris]

I wouldn't say he "representing the Catholic position."  He's
specifically representing a character''s position (another female's, I
think).  Esther's getting the abortion is clearly portrayed
negatively, as Esther's personal weakness, akin to her allowing
herself to be deformed and defined by evil plastic surgeon.  Pynchon
isn't interested in Catholic  theology in V (the priests in V are both
god and bad) so much as the subject of modern dehumanization in
general, and Esther's abortion falls into that category.  It may be
that Esther's weakness and willingness to be manipulated is the real
horror being portrayed there.

On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 3:18 PM, Keith McMullen <keithsz at mac.com> wrote:
> That's one possibility. Another is that Pynchon's plot lines are there as part of a creation of fiction and do not represent his personal viewpoints at every turn. He could be all about choice and hate the Catholic position, yet have the horror there to represent the Catholic position.
>
> On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, at 12:37PM, "David Morris" <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>Of course Pynchon deals directly with the subject of abortion in V.
>>And he seems to treat it as if it were a horror with Rachel Owlglass
>>committing a terrible sin by getting one.  That segment of V. has
>>always struck me as weird, extremely anti-liberal, and a leftover
>>symptom of Pynchon's Roman Catholicism.
>