relatives of grigori, Pointsman, Slothrop

[Joseph Tracy]

I see definite parallels in the characters you mention . The relation of Nurse Ratched and the Asylum director to Pointsman  would also be apt. Slothrop seems like a cross between Chief B and McMurphy to me, some Yosarian too. I also agree that he is not really tragic  so much as mythological.He is like the  human battleground of the capricious Greek Gods  He is interesting because madness is ascribed to him along with a kind of moral debility but the locus of these issues are the result of the programming of others, state sponsored predestination. His own movement is toward escape from madness, something free and natural, his conscience becomes more sensitive and expansive, not more dull.  I suppose he has been compared to Odysseus. ? Other comparisons? Maybe there is no Greek counterparts, maybe Sweeny,  the Minoans, Buddha. Or maybe he is the quintessential American mythic rebel with no cause but freedom, part Huck Finn, part Hester Prynne, Yossarian, Billy Pilgrim, Dylan, Charlie Parker,  Ishmael, McMurphy, Ellison's Invisible Man, but just a slob like one of us...
Here are some first notes on Pointsman where the myth is more explicit.
Pointsman as would-be Ether-scented Theseus aspiring to re-found culture of pure athenian logic (male dominance, social control, triumph over  ecstatic Minoan Goddess-  minotaur, but has lost thread that ties him to his humanity(Ariadne) secretly lusts after children(Phaedra)Theseus called Mother Dog,  kills Cromyon Sow( S identifies with Pig) 
On Dec 29, 2011, at 1:00 PM, alice wellintown wrote:

> For whatever reason, or lack of it, I've alway connected Slothrop with
> Invisible Man. There are the paint factory scenes in both novels,
> where organized & slave labor is a theme,  and where Whiteness is the
> 80,000 pound whale in the room. But the apparent madness of these men,
> like the "madness" of Cheif Bromden, and how they are subjected to
> trials that, as they are made known to the protagonist, make them
> neither tragic nor comic figures, but myhtological figures. To these
> we would add Shadrack of Morrison's Sula (1973); he too is a vicitm of
> war (like Bromden and Slothrop he a Veteran of World War) and like
> Bromden, at least. a voctim of genocide. His national suicide day is
> also a fprm of passive resistance. His name, alluded to by MLK in his
> famous letter from jail in Birmingham, is biblical. Morrison's use of
> names, Pilot is a fine example from Song of Solomon,  are worth
> investigating as well.
> 
> Pulpa Gallega...and Paella Valencia with Lobster today; hope I don't
> get that nasty rash again.
> 
> I'm quite pround to have been blacklisted from everyhing...even the
> anarchists rejected me.
> 
> Good luck finding a job, Dave. Maybe if you posted a resume here we
> could help you out. Or send it to us offlist or whatever...
> 
> T&A