IVIV20: Gateway to the past, 351-352

[Joseph Tracy]

I forgot to include a category soliciting other ideas. I like this  
idea of boundary crossing and wonder if you or others could  
elaborate. I see one example in this chapter with Doc's folks. (Not  
something one would do over a regular phone line these days, except  
in the medical marijuana states.) What boundary is Doc crossing so  
often?

We see him crossing boundaries in other ways, frequently posing as  
different characters and entering homes, the band and organizations,  
mostly  Fang related organizations.
On Jan 13, 2010, at 11:58 PM, Richard Fiero wrote:

> Joseph Tracy wrote:
>> . . .
>> A)Doc smokes dope and that interrupts the narrative connections and
>> makes some observations  iffy, confused, abstracted.
>>         So is this :1) escapism, 2)a filter that reminds us of the
>> distortions and pleasures of a time and place , 2a) a filter that
>> obscures and makes the core narrative unreliable 2b) a filter that
>> adds color and  relevant distortions but still allows the core
>> narrative to be seen  3) proof that Pynchon has smoked every kind of
>> cannibis known to man  4) A device Doc uses for his own psychological
>> needs( closure, escape,  social navigation)?
>
> None of the above.
> In my opinion, IV's author is just using dope as a vehicle to cross  
> boundaries. Note that the fog erases some arbitrary boundaries --  
> national borders and race for two such. Alice has suggested that  
> doper's paranoia encourages the perception of connectedness.