Manson Cult; was Golden Fang

[kelber at mindspring.com]

What Pynchon omits is often as important as what he includes.  The starkest omission from IV (he does, after all, mention Vietnam a number of times, even if he doesn't focus on it) is Woodstock (and its flipside, Altamont).  There are lots of references in IV to the "good hippie" archetype (someone posted a list recently, if I'm not misremembering).  Like the Holocaust and Hiroshima in GR, like JFK's assassination in COL49, Pynchon doesn't overtly mention that which he mourns.  Woodstock was the epitome of the sweet hippie ethos, Altamont was the anti-Woodstock.  They haunt IV, but only Manson comes to the foreground.  As Bekah says, that's all anyone was talking about.  Manson was just news at the time, scary news at that.  It took some distance to see him or Altamont as "the death of" the sweet hippie thing.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>

>
>First,  I think the Manson murders are frequently referenced in IV is  
>because media coverage and gossip/talk were so much a part of  
>setting,  LA and nation,  at the time.
>
>The LA Times,  and other papers as well as the network news sources  
>were full of the murders,  investigation and trials on a daily basis  
>from August 1969 to April, 1971  and beyond,  even unto today.      
>Actually, IV takes place directly in middle of that period,   Manson  
>and company were in jail and awaiting trial (pre-trial stuff?) .    I  
>think if TPR did any research to refresh his memory he came up with  
>Manson, Manson,  Manson in all the papers and old TV news footage.    
>And I think just realistically,  that's what the cops, detectives,   
>street people etc.  would talk about.   Actually, there was talk that  
>Manson didn't get fair trial in LA because of the publicity,  but the  
>fact is that the media coverage was nation-wide.
>
>Re GR,  I don't think that the events of the Holocaust were so well  
>known during the time and place of GR (by Slothrop and company) - they  
>became very, very well known later.
>
>Manson was about 35 years old when the murders occurred.   How old is  
>Doc?  About 30?  (Don't trust anyone over 30.)
>
>Second,   and I'm not so sure about this part,   I think there's are a  
>couple themes to be explored regarding Manson.   There's the "inherent  
>vice" of US society and what it will make people into - especially  
>relating to the US as a whole and to Manson as a primo example.  And  
>there's the related idea of the ending of the
>American Hippie Dream - peace and freedom.
>
>Also reminds me of the old adage,  "The next time you're in trouble,  
>call a hippie."  This  was said by straights but the thougth gets a  
>new twist from Pynchon -   (Very trite - I know - but someone had to  
>say it.)
>
>Bekah
>
>
>On Sep 26, 2009, at 1:52 PM, David Morris wrote:
>
>> Has anyone noticed how often the Manson murders have been referenced
>> in IV?  Isn't this contrary to his usual absence of the huge elephant?
>> Holocaust in GR?...
>>
>> The Manson Murders in IV have been pushed to the front in IV many
>> times without any obvious story-relevance.
>>
>> Just sayin...
>
>http://web.mac.com/bekker2/
>
>