V-2nd - 2: Who's your favorite Pynchonian character?

[kelber at mindspring.com]

We've spent all of Chapter One getting to know Benny, schlemiel and human yo-yo.  Then he disappears from Chapter Two.  We get to know first Rachel, then Stencil instead.  Who's the protagonist?  We find out soon enough that there are dual protagonists - Benny and Stencil - although Stencil's the more compelling because he's on a quest.

I like Benny.  Do you?  He's young, hedonistic and self-centered, like many or most of us were at that age, and he's trying to "find himself."  But he's not on a Quest, and, ultimately, Pynchon will outgrow him.  

I also like Rachel.  She's compassionate, and highly intelligent; constantly asking questions.  There's that odd moment of girl-car love when we first meet her, but that aspect of her is soon left behind.  But she's not on a quest either.

Oedipa is Rachel-on-a-Quest.  Slothrop's Benny-on-a-Quest.  Of all TRP's characters, Oedipa and Slothrop are my favorites: intelligent everywoman; hedonistic, slightly goofy everyman; both trying to get to the heart of conspiracies that may affect all of us.

These characters are gone from Pynchon's last four books.  Zoyd may be goofy and endearing; he may be on a mission to protect his daughter, but he's not on a quest.  Doc?  He's looking for Shasta and Wolfmann, encountering the Golden Fang in the process; there's a bit of a quest there, but it's all a little too pat.  Or maybe, along with Pynchon, we've all gotten too jaded and/or too well-informeed about everything that's connected.

The trio of Reef-Yashmeen-Cyprian in ATD doesn't seem to be looking for anything in particular; they're wandering amid the chaos.

Is Cyprian (a spy searching for himself?) somewhat the heir of Stencil?  We're going to get to know Stencil a lot better in this chapter and later ones.  We may not identify with him as much as with Benny, Rachel, Oedipa and Slothrop - he's an odd duck.  But if there are echoes of him as late as Cyprian, maybe he's the quintessential Pynchon character?

Speak up, folks.  Favorite character?  Similar character?