Prairie vs. Zoyd as Protagonist of Vineland

Dave Williams daveuwilliams at yahoo.com
Thu Sep 9 08:18:39 CDT 2010


Maybe the term "protagonist" is the problem here. But I'll stick to my reading of VL as a novel about a girl named Prairie on a quest. Takeshi is also quite amusing and interesting. The role of the audience is important. The older Zoyd-like reader described by John in the prior posts may certainly identify with Zoyd and Frenesi. A younger reader may find Takeshi or DL or that relationship more interesting. Not that I would ever discount a reader-response or role of the audience analysis, but a formal analysis of the text doesn't support either the Zoyd as protagonist or Takeshi as protagonist reading. Falstaff may be a favorite, Romantics may admire Milton's Satan, the world may fall in love with Gregory Peck and Atticus Finch, but the Plays are Richard and Henry dramas, the epic hero is the Greater Man not the Fallen Angel, the protagonist and hero is Jean-Louis Finch aka the Scout. Of course, Pynchon is given a fine escape from the formal dictates of
 Aristotle or Freytag or even the conventions of modernist experimentation with narrative, so it may be difficult to find fault with what may be another structural problem--that is, the Takeshi & DL story is not equal to the Mad-knight with his Mexican side-kick and donkey show or functions as a subplot or // plot but is longer than the plot propper. In any event, Prairie is the solution to this apparent (to some, including me) problem in VL's structure. 

--- On Thu, 9/9/10, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Prairie vs. Zoyd as Protagonist of Vineland
> To: "Carvill, John" <john.carvill at sap.com>
> Cc: "Dave Williams" <daveuwilliams at yahoo.com>, "pynchon-l at waste.org" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Date: Thursday, September 9, 2010, 12:41 PM
> I agree.  Zoyd is yet another of
> Pynchon's schlemiels, inept, probably
> overweight, but lovable.
> 
> On Thu, Sep 9, 2010 at 5:40 AM, Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com>
> wrote:
> > Never really liked the 'Prairie is the protagonist'
> line. I can see how you can argue that she is, of course,
> but for me, well, Zoyd is the man. One major factor is that
> you enter the book through Zoyd's POV (or the narrator's POV
> of Zoyd), and Zoyd is a hugely appealing character, so
> despite the fact that he 'drops out' for some segments, he
> stays with you. For me, Zoyd is the most compelling
> character in the text, and - with his less focused, less
> committed political aspect - sort of a Hippy Everyman and,
> thus, closer to the heart of the book, in a sense.
> 


      




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