IVIV (13) scene one question

[John Bailey]

I think one difference is that Hector literally hectors Zoyd - he's an
annoying chump who gets a lot more out of their relationship than Zoyd
does. Zoyd might imagine that he would be happy if people like Hector
stopped hectoring him and let him live the peaceful stoner lifestyle;
although from the get-go this fantasy is troubled by his reliance on
the State as a source of income.

Doc has a more syncretic relationship with Bigfoot, whereby both lives
benefit and are made more difficult by the other's. Locard's
Principle.

This is why I think Doc is a less 'sympathetic' character than Zoyd -
or less of a stand-in for Pynchon... because he is *much* more
implicated in the things he is ostensibly against. It also makes him a
more developed character, and in a way more of a stand-in for Pynchon
because he is more true to life.

But it's fiction and I think it's a fool's game to try to read P into
his novels. He is a clever chap.

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:02 PM, Peter Petto <ppetto at ppetto.com> wrote:
> I agree. I also feel a lot more empathy between Doc and Bigfoot.
>
> I imagine each could imagine themselves in the other's shoes. I'm not sure
> as I would go quite as far as saying that each could imagine their life
> having gone along the other's path.
>
>
> On Nov 4, 2009, at 10:08 PM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>
>> I think one difference is that Zoyd would be happy never to see Hector
>> again, whereas Doc seems to consider Bigfoot a potential source of info --
>> at least worth looking in on now and then.  The difference is between the
>> straightforward paranoia of a good-hearted idealist versus the more cynical,
>> utilitarian worldview of someone whose values have been compromised.
>>
>> Laura
>
>