Not Drugs The Anatomy of Melville's Melancholy (Thoreau:

[Mark Kohut]

All who have focused so interestingly on Denis have illuminated him for me. A character I neglected while I followed the others and the plot and the associations.

Iris Murdoch has an essay in which she argues that one quality of writers of genius is how they handle the 'unnecessary' characters. If they live and mean (loosely) within the work even though they do not advance the plot nor any major themes. 

She uses that touchstone Shakespeare as great exemplar, I believe the gravediggers in Hamlet (as Alice has recently alluded to) for example and some in Austen, Dickens, etc.  this 'excess' shows genius spilling over, or some nice such.

maybe Denis is a simple ideal? Does no harm. Is just a natural friend? Just IS; is just a simple TV-enjoying human being? 

--- On Tue, 11/17/09, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net> wrote:

> From: Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: Not Drugs The Anatomy of Melville's Melancholy (Thoreau:
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 10:42 AM
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph Tracy" <brook7 at sover.net>
> To: "pynchon -l" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 11:04 PM
> Subject: Re: Not Drugs The Anatomy of Melville's Melancholy
> (Thoreau:
> 
> 
> > 
> > On Nov 16, 2009, at 10:12 PM, alice wellintown wrote:
> > 
> >> What does Denis do that matters?
> >> Does he do anything in this work that causes us to
> think or  question or feel?
> >> Or is he just a comic character set next to
> Larry/Doc to cast shadows
> >> and hear conversations?
> >> He reminds us of Homer's pal, Barney.
> > 
> > There are a lot of people in IV and in real life who
> do a lot of  damage. Denis is a loyal friend to at
> least one good person, a person  moving from money as
> the measure of life to karma, a person who is  the only
> clear agent of justice in this story. There is something
> to  be said for doing no harm, for being there when a
> friend is freaking  out to ask if you are okay. Most of
> us have competent friends like  Tito and Fritz and less
> competent friends like Denis. I like him  being there,
> and the comic relief doesn't bother me at all.
> > 
> > "Yeah man" Denis put in," but we're in a Mercedes, and
> it's only  painted one color, beige- don't we get
> points for that?"
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> I think Alice is asking, what does Denis do for the book
> (not for society)
> 
> And yes I think Joseph is correct.  There can be
> something to be said for doing nothing (harmful).
> 
> Hippies after all are on strike from participating in a
> society they disapprove of and would find unpleasant even
> abhorrent to cooperate with.
> 
> Maybe Denis is the ideal.
> 
> I can feel myself in him, but people like us aren't the
> stuff of great fiction. (this is a general fault I find with
> the book despite Pynchon's undisguisable talent)
> 
> P 
>