Recog ch 2

[Mark Kohut]

Days of reflection later--smile--after reading again of some cultures, wherein
all the people,-- test given to 5 year-olds---know compass directions 
flawlessly--Where's
North? etc...and thinking of Kant's famous, oft-challenged remark on
'the starry skies above and the moral order within"......and then remembering
who wrote a major work that could be called Dawn-----------
"In Daybreak Nietzsche begins his "Campaign against Morality".[49]...."
 
I might argue that Wyatt's confusion shows him struggling to preserve his 
internal moral
compass in the critic's campaign against (simple) morality---but he does, or 
maybe does for the reasons Ryan put forth....
 
 

   

----- Original Message ----
From: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Sat, April 23, 2011 8:46:36 PM
Subject: Re: Recog ch 2

> And we learn Wyatt is '"exhausted", yes, as Jed also points out, he
> is presented as highly unnatural (physically)  and, of course, to work
> all night and get anxious with the dawn.......
>
> is vampirish?   But that cannot be intended here??

But is it dawn? And why would this matter so much to Wyatt? Why does
he place such emphasis on the fact that the art dealer comes to make a
deal at dawn? And why does WG have Wyatt think it is dawn when it is
not? Or is it? In the Gass Penguin p.69 WG contrasts the life of Wyatt
with that of the people who live in ordinary time. His life of
painting at night to fever, then resting at dawn, then off to his day
job,  causes confusion; "the absolutes become confused." WG describes
one afternoon when he fell asleep and slept till twilight, but
confused, he thought he had slept through is painting hours (night)
and awakened at dawn. When he goes out he is so confused he calls the
attention of a police officer who questions him about his identity. It
is after this, when Wyatt, still confused, and with coffee returns
home, that he meets the art dealer. After the proposition, Wyatt
complains that the deal is insane and puts emphasis on the fact that
the dealer has presented it at dawn.

The dealer recognizes that Wyatt is confused and exhausted. Wyatt's
outrage is exacerbated by the fact that the dealer tries to make a
deal at dawn. But it is not dawn. Not to the dealer, not to the police
officer, not to the people. But to Wyatt it is dawn.